Abstract
Cystic echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a neglected zoonosis that affects humans and livestock. This sero-survey was designed for the first time in Pakistan to assess the exposure of butchers to E. granulosus as there was no previous report in the country for this occupational group. Blood samples were collected from registered butchers (n = 364) in five different slaughterhouses in Faisalabad and Bahawalnagar Districts. Sera were tested for anti-Echinococcus granulosus IgG with a commercially available ELISA kit (specificity, 100%; sensitivity, 97%). Overall, seroprevalence was 9.61% (35/364). Butchers >30 years of age (10.34%), those involved in small ruminants butchery (11.70%), >10 years' experience (10.04%), formal education level up to middle standard (10.28%), contact with dogs (12.71%), improper/unhygienic disposal of dog feces (11.87%), and those unaware of the consequences of eating with unwashed hands (13.80%) were more seropositive with significant statistical differences (p < 0.05). Variables like previous cyst encounter, no knowledge of zoonoses and/or cystic echinococcosis, living in rural areas and the presence of stray/feral dogs in surroundings did not show any significant association (p > 0.05) with seroprevalence in butchers. The binary logistic regression model also showed a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05) for all risk factors found statistically significant (p < 0.05) in the univariate analysis. This study shows high prevalence of cystic echinococcosis among butchers in Pakistan and underscores the need for educating native slaughterhouse personnel on cystic echinococcosis. It also serves as a global warning, especially in developing countries.
Highlights
Cystic echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a neglected zoonosis that affects humans and livestock
Butchers with >10 years’ experience were more seropositive (10.04%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.78-10.81) than those with ≤10 years (9.03%) slaughtering experience with statistical significance (p < 0.05)
We found that seroprevalence differs with locations in accordance to the reports of Al-Shaibani et al [29] who observed varying Cystic echinococcosis (CE) prevalence among different governorates of Iran where significantly higher infection rates were observe in Dhamar governorate (3.59%) than in Taiz governorate (1.90%) [29] and was possibly due to prevailing risk factors
Summary
Cystic echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a neglected zoonosis that affects humans and livestock. Conclusions: This study shows high prevalence of cystic echinococcosis among butchers in Pakistan and underscores the need for educating native slaughterhouse personnel on cystic echinococcosis It serves as a global warning, especially in developing countries. Humans become infected by accidental ingestion of eggs/proglottids through consumption of contaminated vegetables and fruits or water leading to the development of cysts in different organs [5,6,7]. Another possible way of acquiring the infection is by direct contact with feces of infected definitive hosts [8]
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