Evaluating the Role of Corrals and Insects in the Transmission of Porcine Cysticercosis: A Cohort Study

Overview

Journal Pathogens

Date 2023 Apr 28

PMID 37111483

Authors

Eloy Gonzales-Gustavson

Ian W Pray

Ricardo Gamboa

Claudio Muro

Percy Vilchez

Luis Gomez-Puerta

Ana Vargas-Calla

Gabrielle Bonnet

Francesco Pizzitutti

Hector H Garcia

Armando E Gonzalez

Seth E ONeal

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The widespread dispersion of pigs infected with cysticercosis across endemic villages, low cyst burden among infected pigs, and low prevalence of taeniasis all suggest that pig ingestion of human feces is not the only mode of transmission for . Our objective was to evaluate the risk of porcine cysticercosis associated with exposure to human feces, dung beetles, and flies in an endemic community setting. We used a cluster-randomized cohort design to compare the risk of developing antibodies and infection among 120 piglets raised in either free-roaming (FR), standard corral (SC), or netted corral environments (NC). We collected monthly blood samples to detect serum antibodies and necropsied all pigs after 10 months to identify cysts. A total of 66 piglets developed antibodies with the relative risk of seropositivity in FR vs. all corralled pigs increasing significantly after 18 weeks. Of 108 necropsied pigs, 15 had cysts, all belonging to the FR group. Corrals were protective against infection but less so against seropositivity. NC, which did not completely exclude insects, did not provide added protection against seropositivity as compared to SC. The results of this study suggest that dung beetles and flies do not play an important role in infection.

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