Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis and the co-distribution with schistosomiasis in Africa

Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to map the distribution of Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis and the co-distribution with schistosomiasis in Africa. These two major neglected tropical diseases are presumed to be widely distributed in Africa, but currently the level of co-distribution is unclear.MethodsA literature search on T. solium taeniosis/cysticercosis was performed to compile all known studies on the presence of T. solium and apparent prevalence of taeniosis and porcine cysticercosis in Africa. Studies were geo-referenced using an online gazetteer. A Bayesian framework was used to combine the epidemiological data on the apparent prevalence with external information on test characteristics to estimate informed district-level prevalence of taeniosis and porcine cysticercosis. Districts with T. solium taeniosis/cysticercosis presence were cross-referenced with the Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Database for schistosomiasis presence.ResultsThe search strategies identified 141 reports of T. solium in Africa from 1985 to 2014 from a total of 476 districts in 29 countries, 20 with porcine cysticercosis, 22 with human cysticercosis, and 16 with taeniosis, in addition to 2 countries identified from OIE reports. All 31 countries were considered, on national scale, to have co-distribution with schistosomiasis. Presence of both parasites was confirmed in 124 districts in 17 countries. The informed prevalence of taeniosis and porcine cysticercosis were estimated for 14 and 41 districts in 10 and 13 countries, respectively.ConclusionsWith the paucity of data, T. solium infection is grossly under-reported and expected to be more widespread than this study suggests. In areas where co-distribution occurs there is a need for increased emphasis on evaluation of integrated intervention approaches for these two helminth infections and allocation of resources for evaluating the extent of adverse effects caused by mass drug administration.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-0938-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Taenia hydatigena cysticercosis in slaughtered pigs, goats, and sheep in Tanzania

“…The distribution of T. solium is currently not well known in Africa (Braae et al 2015) and even less so the distribution of T. hydatigena. Knowledge on the co-existence within a specific area is essential in order to account for false-positives if an intervention for T. solium or T. hydatigena is evaluated using Ag-ELISA which is only genus specific (Brandt et al 1992;Dorny et al 2003).…”

Human taeniasis: current insights into prevention and management strategies in endemic countries

“…T. solium has been effectively controlled in most of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand; however, autochthonous transmission – although rare – has been reported from the Iberian Peninsula and areas of Eastern Europe and North America 14–16. The highest prevalence of T. solium is, however, found in the developing world, with the majority of Africa, Asia and Latin America being endemic for the parasite 17,1814,19 New Zealand,20 Australia21 and throughout the developing world 3.…”

Detection of Immunoglobulin G Antibodies to Taenia solium Cysticercosis Antigen Glutathione-S-Transferase–rT24H in Malian Children Using Multiplex Bead Assay

“…A systematic review of T. solium cysticercosis reported overall seroprevalences by antigen or antibody detection of about 7% in Africa, 4% in Latin America, and 4% in Asia, but higher seroprevalences of 34-39% have been reported in countries such as Zambia where only about 1% of the population practice the Islamic religion that discourages ingestion of pork. [6][7][8][9] There is a paucity of published information on cysticercosis in Mali in West Africa. However, a study in the adjacent country of Burkina Faso focused on three villages, one with free-roaming pigs, one with confined pigs, and one with limited numbers of pigs owned by Muslim farmers.…”