Porcine Cysticercosis in Southeast Uganda: Seroprevalence in Kamuli and Kaliro Districts

Abstract

The recent recognition of neurocysticercosis as a major cause of epilepsy in Uganda and changes in pig demography have lead to a need to better understand the basic epidemiology of Taenia solium infections in pigs and humans. Human exposure is a function of the size of the animal reservoir of this zoonosis. This is the first field survey for porcine cysticercosis to investigate the prevalence of antigen-positive pigs across an entire rural district of south-east Uganda. In our field surveys, 8.6% of 480 pigs screened were seropositive for the parasite by B158/B60 Ag-ELISA. In addition, of the 528 homesteads surveyed 138 (26%) did not have pit latrines indicating a high probability of pigs having access to human faeces and thus T. solium eggs. This study thus indicates the need for better data on this neglected zoonotic disease in Uganda, with a particular emphasis on the risk factors for infection in both pigs and humans. In this regard, further surveys of pigs, seroprevalence surveys in humans and an understanding of cysticercosis-related epilepsy are required, together with risk-factor studies for human and porcine infections.

Participatory assessment of animal health and husbandry practices in smallholder pig production systems in three high poverty districts in Uganda

“…Most studies conducted in Uganda show that pigs are kept in all three systems listed by farmers in this study, with more intensive systems in the peri-urban/urban compared to rural settings (Waiswa et al, 2007(Waiswa et al, , 2009Rutebarika and Ademun, 2011;Muhanguzi et al, 2012). A study in Nangabo district with a similar production system to the one observed in Mukono U-U value chain reported that most farmers keep their pigs in intensive or semiintensive systems but allow their pigs to forage for 2-5 h per day (Muhanguzi et al, 2012).…”

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Human Taenia Solium Infections in Mbozi District, Mbeya Region, Tanzania

“…Porcine cysticercosis has also been reported in many of the countries bordering Tanzania including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique [44], [45], [46], [47], [48]. These results indicate widespread presence of T. solium infections in the region such that cysticercosis should be viewed as an eastern and southern Africa regional issue rather than as a Tanzania specific problem.…”

Smallholder Pigs Production Systems in Tanzania

“…However, in the last two decades, pig production has shown remarkable growth in terms of pig population, pork production and consumption [2][3][4]. Similar developments have been observed in other parts of Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries [5][6][7] and Asia [8][9][10][11][12].…”