Abstract
Echinococcosis is a serious zoonotic parasitic disease transmitted from canines to humans and livestock. Periodic deworming is recommended by the WHO/OIE as a highly effective measure against echinococcosis. However, manual deworming involves significant challenges, particularly in remote areas with scarce resources. The insufficient awareness delivering praziquantel (PZQ) baits for dogs leads to low compliance rate. The aim of this study was therefore to develop a novel smart collar for dogs to address these challenges. We developed a smart Internet of Things (IoT)-based deworming collar which can deliver PZQ baits for dogs automatically, regularly, quantitatively with predominant characteristics of being waterproof, anti-collision, cold-proof and long life battery. Its performance was tested in two remote locations on the Tibetan Plateau. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to evaluate the compliance of the dog owners. Further, a randomized controlled study was performed to evaluate the difference between smart-collar deworming and manual deworming. The collar's effectiveness was further assessed on the basis of Generalized Estimation Equations (GEE). The testing and evaluation was done for 10 smart deworming collars in factory laboratory, 18 collars attached for 18 dogs in Seni district, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, and 523 collars attached for 523 dogs in Hezuo city, Gansu province, China. The anti-collision, waterproof, and coldproof proportion of the smart collars were 100.0%, 99.5%, and 100.0%, respectively. When compared to manual deworming, the dogs' risk of infection with Echinococcus on smart-collar deworming is down to 0.182 times (95% CI: 0.049, 0.684) in Seni district and 0.355 (95%CI: 0.178, 0.706) in Hezuo city, the smart collar has a significant protective effect. The owners' overall compliance rate to attach the smart collars for their dogs was 89%. The smart deworming collar could effectively reduce the dogs' risk of infection with Echinococcus in dogs, significantly increase the deworming frequency and coverage and rapidly remove worm biomass in dogs. Thus, it may be a promising alternative to manual deworming, particularly in remote areas on the Tibetan Plateau.
Highlights
Echinococcosis, a severe zoonotic parasitic disease[1], has been listed as a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization (WHO), and it was ranked among the top three of 24 global foodborne parasitic diseases by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) /WHO in 2010[2,3]
Echinococcosis remains a critical but neglected zoonotic parasitic disease transmitted between canines and livestock or wild rodents
Dogs play a key role in Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) and E. multilocularis transmission, dual infection occurs in dogs in co-endemic regions in China
Summary
Echinococcosis, a severe zoonotic parasitic disease[1], has been listed as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO, and it was ranked among the top three of 24 global foodborne parasitic diseases by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) /WHO in 2010[2,3]. Previous studies have estimated the global burden of CE to be approximately 1 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), of which China accounts for 40%[7]. Global humanassociated direct and indirect costs due to E. granulosus infection have been estimated at $764 million, while livestock-associated costs due to E. granulosus infection have been estimated at over $2 billion per annum, of which China accounts for a significant share[7]. The estimated prevalence of echinococcosis in the nine epidemic provinces in China was 0.51% between 2012 and 2016; the top three provincial prevalence levels for CE and AE combined were 1.26%, 1.65%, and 1.71% in the Qinghai Province, Sichuan Province, and Tibet Autonomous Region, respectively [6]. The disease burden in China is predominant among communities with scarce resources, on the Tibetan Plateau
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