Seroprevalence of antibodies (IgG) to Taenia solium among pig rearers and associated risk factors in Jos metropolis, Nigeria

Rebecca Paul Weka,Joshua Kamani,Eugene I Ikeh

doi:10.3855/jidc.2309

Rebecca Paul Weka, Joshua Kamani + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.2309

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Abstract

In Nigeria, Taenia solium cysticercosis is a problem in rural areas where most pigs are kept and in urban areas where infected pork can be consumed. We performed enzyme linked immunosorbent assays on serum samples collected from pig rearers in Jos, Nigeria, to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies. Of 125 subjects tested, 12 (9.6%) were positive for T. solium. Seroprevalence did not differ significantly (P>0.05) according to education, age, occupation, study location, gender or whether the subjects consumed pork. However, a statistical difference (P<0.05) in seroprevalence was observed according to type and availability of toilet used, personal hygiene after using the toilet, and type of pig management practiced. Females were about two times more likely to be seroprevalent than males (OR=1.7; 95% CI= 0.43-6.67; P=0.4) and subjects who consumed pork were four times more likely to have anti T. solium antibodies than those who did not eat pork (OR=4.2; 95%CI=0.52-33.57; P=0.2). Those who defecated in the bush were 8.3 times more likely to suffer from T. solium infection than those who used water system toilets (OR=8.3; 95%CI=1.56-43.7; P=0.01). Subjects who did not wash their hands after defecating were 6 times more likely to contract T. solium compared to those who washed their hands with water (OR=5.5; 95% CI=1.39-21.89; P=0.01). Our results show that using a toilet and practicing good personal hygiene can reduce cases of T. solium infection in a community.

Highlights

In Nigeria, Taenia solium cysticercosis is a problem in rural areas where most pigs are kept and in urban areas where infected pork can be consumed
The cestode T. solium is cosmopolitan in distribution and highly endemic in Latin America, Africa and Asia where poverty, poor sanitation, and intimate contact between humans and their livestock are common place [9,10,11]
Cysticercosis has been cited by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations (FAO) as one of the neglected zoonotic diseases, and one of a few potentially eradicable diseases [12], but it is an emerging zoonoses [13]

Summary

Introduction

In Nigeria, Taenia solium cysticercosis is a problem in rural areas where most pigs are kept and in urban areas where infected pork can be consumed. Females were about two times more likely to be seroprevalent than males (OR=1.7; 95% CI= 0.43-6.67; P=0.4) and subjects who consumed pork were four times more likely to have anti T. solium antibodies than those who did not eat pork (OR=4.2; 95%CI=0.52-33.57; P=0.2) Those who defecated in the bush were 8.3 times more likely to suffer from T. solium infection than those who used water system toilets (OR=8.3; 95%CI=1.56-43.7; P=0.01). Taenia solium, is considered to be the most important parasitic infestation of the central nervous system in humans in disease-endemic zones [2,3] It is being increasingly recognized as the single most common cause of severely acquired but preventable epilepsy in the developing world, where prevalence rates of active epilepsy are twice than those in developed countries [2,3,4,5]. 50 million people worldwide are estimated to have cysticercosis infection, and 50,000 neurocysticercosis-related deaths occur annually worldwide, estimates are probably low since many infections are subclinical with relatively little population-based data on prevalence [14,15,16]

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