Risk factors forEchinococcuscoproantigen positivity in dogs from the Alay valley, Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Echinococcosis, caused by the zoonotic cestodes Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato) and Echinococcus multilocularis, is highly endemic in the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan, and is being identified increasingly as a public health problem, especially amongst pastoral communities. As domestic dogs are considered to be the main source of human infection, the identification of potential transmission pathways is of relevance when considering implementing an echinococcosis control scheme. The current report describes the results of an analytical study of canine Echinococcus coproantigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) prevalence in the Alay valley of southern Kyrgyzstan prior to the commencement of regular praziquantel dosing of dogs. A logistic regression model using a form of Bayes modal estimation was used to identify possible risk factors for coproantigen positivity, and the output was interpreted in a Bayesian context (posterior distributions of the coefficients of interest). The study found that sheepdogs had lower odds of coproantigen positivity, as did dogs in households with donkeys, where owners had knowledge of echinococcosis, and households which engaged in home slaughtering. Surprisingly, there was no evidence of an association between free roaming or previous praziquantel dosing and coproantigen positivity, as has been found in previous studies. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed in the context of the epidemiology of echinococcosis and potential intervention approaches.

Echinococcosis: Advances in the 21st Century

“…Besides the red fox, the main definitive host of E. multilocularis (241)(242)(243), other carnivores such as the raccoon dog and domestic dog also act as definitive hosts (32,244,245). The role of dogs in AE transmission is especially important in western China and in central Asia (53,246) and may be more relevant in Europe than previously considered; conversely, a wildlife cycle may also be of concern for CE, especially in Africa (13,247). Baits impregnated with praziquantel have been applied against E. multilocularis (248,249), and a bait-delivered vaccine, when available, could be used to interrupt the parasite's transmission cycle in wildlife, notably foxes, in cities and parks (250) and in selected rural areas (31,251).…”

Integration of animal health and public health surveillance sources to exhaustively inform the risk of zoonosis: An application to echinococcosis in Rio Negro, Argentina

“…For CE, Bayesian and spatio-temporal analysis models have been developed widely (e.g. in China [18,19], Iran [20] and Kyrgyzstan [21]). However, none of these studies merged multiple surveillance sources and simultaneously combined animal and human case data.…”

Evaluation of the impact of 2 years of a dosing intervention on canine echinococcosis in the Alay Valley, Kyrgyzstan

“…Four communities (Taldu Suu, Sary Mogul, Kara Kavak and Kashka Suu) were visited in May 2012, prior to the start of the World Bank funded intervention programme (Mastin et al . 2015). All available households (i.e.…”

“…The number of dog faecal samples collected and analysed from each community was as follows: Kara Kavak = 35, Kashka Suu = 42, Sary Mogul = 155, Taldu Suu = 86 (Mastin et al . 2015).…”

“…In order to calculate N , data collected in May 2012 from Sary Mogul, Taldu Suu and Kara Kavak was used, and extrapolated from the randomly sampled houses in Taldu Suu (for details see Mastin et al . 2015). The size of the four villages was estimated using the ‘measure distance’ tool in Google Earth, to select the area that contained most of the houses.…”