A review of pig pathology in Tanzania

Abstract

The approximately 1.58 million pigs in Tanzania represent 3.7% of the national population of quadruped meat-producing animals. Pigs are kept mainly by small producers who own 99.5% of the national stock in units that average 3.04 animals (range 2-48). Government policy has had little practical application. African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and Cysticercosis are important diseases. The first two are notifiable diseases under Tanzania legislation; the last has widespread distribution and relevance as a major zoonosis. Ascariasis (Ascaris suum), hydatidosis (Echinococcus granulosus), leptospirosis (Leptospira interrogans) and thermophilic Campylobacter are other zoonoses associated with pigs. Gastrointestinal helminths and external parasites, especially Sarcoptes scabiei, are common. Risk factors associated with cysticercosis for humans working with pigs or eating their meat include the free-range or semi-confined management systems, the use of rivers or ponds as a source of water, lack of household sanitation, informal home slaughter, pork not being inspected at slaughter slabs and undercooked and barbecued meat. Pigs are a minor component of Tanzania's livestock sector but there is potential for increasing their contribution to human welfare. Prospects are enhanced by the shorter life cycle, greater number of young produced per year and the possibility of producing high-quality animal protein at a lower cost than meat produced by cattle and small ruminants.

Domestic pigs as potential reservoirs of human and animal trypanosomiasis in Northern Tanzania

“…While data from experimental infections in pigs are available for T. b. gambiense and T. b. brucei from West Africa [ 33 , 34 ], there are gaps regarding T. brucei s. l. pathology and pathogenicity in porcine hosts in East Africa including: the length of time that pigs are able to sustain infections with T. b. brucei or T. b. rhodesiense ; the profile of these infections, in terms of parasitaemia, morbidity and mortality in porcine hosts and the longevity of these hosts within the farming system. Pigs are considered to be relatively short lived in small holder farming systems in East Africa [ 58 ] but may for short periods of time, contribute a significant pool of infection.…”

“…cysticercosis) by preventing contact of pigs with feces. For example, in Mbulu and Dodoma districts where T. b. rhodesiense was identified in pigs, Taenia solium cysts have also been observed in a significant number of pig carcasses [ 58 ]. Application of insecticide treatments as have been applied to prevent HAT and AAT transmission in cattle in Uganda may also offer opportunities for prevention of transmission of HAT and AAT to and from porcine hosts [ 61 ] and could be integrated with methods for control of other endemic zoonotic diseases.…”

Evidence for Transmission of Taenia solium Taeniasis/Cysticercosis in a Rural Area of Northern Rwanda

“…There are no current data for Burundi, but prevalence ranges from 2 to 39% were observed 20 years ago (21). In Tanzania, farm prevalence of porcine cysticercosis was between 17.4 and 18.2% in lingual examination or slaughterslab prevalence by routine meat inspection respectively, while a maximum of 33.3% has been reported by cysticercal antigens by ELISA (Ag-ELISA) (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29).…”

Molecular characterization of African swine fever virus from domestic pigs in northern Tanzania during an outbreak in 2013

“…After the isolation of ASFV in O. moubata ticks in the Serengeti National Park by Plowright et al ( 1969 ), sporadic ASF outbreaks have been reported to occur at irregular intervals spanning several years (Wilson and Swai 2013 ). Since 2000, the frequency of reported ASF outbreaks in Tanzania has increased.…”