Epidemiology of Mansonella perstans in the middle belt of Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundMansonellosis was first reported in Ghana by Awadzi in the 1990s. Co-infections of Mansonella perstans have also been reported in a small cohort of patients with Buruli ulcer and their contacts. However, no study has assessed the exact prevalence of the disease in a larger study population. This study therefore aimed to find out the prevalence of M. perstans infection in some districts in Ghana and to determine the diversity of Culicoides that could be potential vectors for transmission.MethodsFrom each participant screened in the Asante Akim North (Ashanti Region), Sene West and Atebubu Amantin (Brong Ahafo Region) districts, a total of 70 μl of finger prick blood was collected for assessment of M. perstans microfilariae. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) light traps as well as the Human Landing Catch (HLC) method were used to assess the species diversity of Culicoides present in the study communities.ResultsFrom 2,247 participants, an overall prevalence of 32% was recorded although up to 75% prevalence was demonstrated in some of the communities. Culicoides inornatipennis was the only species of Culicoides caught with the HLC method. By contrast, C. imicola (47%), C. neavei (25%) and C. schultzei (15%) were caught by the CDC light trap method. A wide diversity of other Culicoides spp. was also identified but correlation was only found between the prevalence of C. inornatipennis and M. perstans during the dry season.ConclusionsHere we demonstrate for the first time that M. perstans is highly prevalent in three districts in Ghana. We found a wide spectrum of Culicoides spp. Culicoides inornatipennis was the most anthropophilic and is therefore likely to be the species responsible for transmission of infection but formal proof has yet to be obtained.Trial registration NCT02281643. Registered October 26, 2014. ‘Retrospectively registered’. Trial Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1960-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

<i>Mansonella perstans</i> and <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> Co-infection in the Akonolinga Health District, Centre Region, Cameroon

“…In this work, the prevalence was independent of gender and age groups but was dependent on living area. The prevalence of M. perstans was highest in rural area; this finding is in conformity with other reports by Bassene et al [24] in Senegal and Debrah et al [25] in Ghana. Indeed, it is known that high prevalence of M. perstans occurs mainly in areas where tropical forests alternate with large swamps and open ground [2].…”

Phylogenetic relationships and molecular delimitation of CulicoidesLatreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species in the Afrotropical region: interest for the subgenus Avaritia

“…Culicoides‐ borne pathogens (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in the Afrotropical region are of interest because of major recent outbreaks affecting livestock (Mellor et al ., ; Mullen, ; Purse et al ., ; Carpenter et al ., ) and human populations (Agbolade et al ., ;Simonsen et al ., ; Bassene et al ., ; Debrah et al ., ). For example, in the last 20 years, African horse sickness outbreaks have been recorded in South Africa (Venter et al ., ), Senegal (Diouf et al ., ) and Namibia (Scacchia et al ., ).…”

“…For example, in the last 20 years, African horse sickness outbreaks have been recorded in South Africa (Venter et al ., ), Senegal (Diouf et al ., ) and Namibia (Scacchia et al ., ). Recently in West and Central Africa, high prevalence rates of Mansonella perstans were recorded in Culicoides specimens and human populations (Simonsen et al ., ; Bassene et al ., ; Debrah et al ., ). However, there have been few studies on the Culicoides fauna of the Afrotropical region.…”

Mansonellosis, the most neglected human filariasis

“…More recent real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based prevalence data from Senegal found an overall prevalence of 14.5%, which could extend up to 40% to 50% in some villages [5] . Similarly, the qPCR-based prevalence was 32% in 2247 participants studied in Ghana [6] and 76% in 1085 participants in Cameroon [7] . Simonsen et al.…”