Epidemiological survey of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the west-central region of Guangdong Province, China

Abstract

The study was to understand the Angiostrongylus cantonensis infectious situation of rodent definitive host, snail intermediate host, and local residents in the west-central region of Guangdong Province in China. The snails Achatina fulica and Pomacea canaliculata collected from the survey place were digested with artificial gastric juice, and the third-stage larvae of A. cantonensis in the snails were examined under microscope. The heart and lung of rats captured from the survey place were taken to check the adult of A. cantonensis. The questionnaire surveys related to the infection of A. cantonensis were taken in local residents randomly selected, and the IgG antibody against A. cantonensis was tested in those residents with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 1,391 rats including eight kinds of rats, such as Rattus norvegicus, Rattus flavipectus, Bandicota indica, Rattus sladeni, Mus musculus, Rattus rattoides, Suncus Murinus, and Rattus confucianus, were examined and 132 of them were infected by A. cantonensis, with an average infection rate of 9.49% and a mean intensity of A. cantonensis in infected rats was 9.39. A total of 3,184 snails A. fulica and 3,723 snails P. canaliculata were detected. The average infection rates of them were 25.03% (797/3,184) and 6.50% (242/3,723), respectively. There were 180 positive samples of IgG antibody against A. cantonensis in 1,800 serum samples of the residents, with a positive rate of 10.00%. The west-central region of Guangdong Province is the natural focus of A. cantonensis. In comparison with the investigation results in other regions of China, the infection rate of rat definitive host is at the middle level; in the intermediate host, the infection rate of snail A. fulica is above the middle level, and the infection rate of snail Pomacea canaliculata is below the middle level. Some local residents had already been infected by A. cantonensis or at the risk of being infected.

Enzootic Angiostrongyliasis in Guangzhou, China, 2008–2010

“…7,8,11,12 The infection profile of rats in Guangzhou was reported by a previous survey 7 ; however, there has not been thorough data about the infection profiles of snails and residents in Guangzhou. We conducted a survey, which included seroprevalence and analysis of intermediate and definitive hosts, to ascertain the status of A. cantonensis infection in Guangzhou.…”

“…7,8,11,12 Only two species of rats showed signs of infection, i.e., R. norvegicus and R. flavipectus with similar infection rates. However, R. norvegicus was found in a higher number and broader distribution in Guangzhou.…”

“…[7][8][9][10] This combined with the existence of positive definitive hosts, has implicated regions of some provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, and Zhejiang as the natural foci of A. cantonensis. Residents living in these areas face the constant risk of infection.…”

Prevalencia de parásitos nematodos Strongylidos asociados al Caracol africano, Achatina fulica, en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia

“…Another city, Dagua (3º39'N-76º41''W),was located on western flat of the western Andes mountain at 1235 m about mean sea level, 1159 mm, annual precipitation and average La rápida dispersión de A. fulica en áreas tropicales de todo el mundo, y su alto potencial como huésped intermediario de nematodos metastrongiloides, ha llevado a investigaciones sobre su prevalencia parasitaria centrada en los nematodos del género Angiostrongylus, de los cuales la especie A. cantonensis y A. costaricensis han causado cientos de muertes por meningitis eosinofílica, que es endémica de Asia, y angiostrongiliasis abdominal, que es endémica de América, con la presencia de A. fulica asociada en la mayoría de los casos (1,5,8). Recientemente han comenzado a utilizarse herramientas moleculares como anticuerpos, para diagnosticar enfermedades causadas por Angiostrongylus (9), y herramientas morfológicas y moleculares basadas en PCR o alternativamente LAMP se han utilizado para identificar especies de helmintos (10,11).…”

“…Molecular tools have recently begun to be used, such as antibodies, to diagnose diseases caused by Angiostrongylus (9), and morphological and molecular tools based on PCR or alternatively LAMP have been usedin addition to identify helminth species (10,11).…”