Seroprevalence of human cysticercosis and its associated risk factors among humans in areas of Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Taenia solium cysticercosis is considered an emerging parasitic zoonosis of global importance due to its impact on both agriculture and public health in developing countries. Epidemiological information on human cysticercosis is limited in Nigeria. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of human cysticercosis in areas of Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria, where small-holder pig farming is practiced. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Kaduna South and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna metropolis, which are widely involved in small-holder pig farming and pork consumption. A total of 300 human sera were collected and tested for the presence of IgG antibodies to T. solium using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. A structured questionnaire was used to identify risk factors in the population and was administered to the study population. Results: A total of 43 of 300 sera tested positive to IgG antibodies, indicating a cysticercosis prevalence of 14.3%. Method of pork preparation and history of epilepsy were found to be strongly associated with seropositivity. Epileptics in this study were two times more likely to be seropositive than non-epileptics. A large proportion (74.0%) of the population had very poor knowledge of cysticercosis, and knowledge of cysticercosis was strongly associated with method of pork preparation and respondents' occupations. Conclusions: A high seroprevalence of human cysticercosis was found in Kaduna South and Chikun Local Government Areas. The main risk and behavioral factors contributing to the high prevalence include poor knowledge of cysticercosis and lack of knowledge on proper pork preparation methods.

Taenia soliumCysticercosis in Pigs and Human: A Review of Epidemiological Data in West Africa (1990–2019)

“…Eating of pork by someone with epilepsy promotes cysticercosis and corroborates with a study that found a significant link between cysticercosis occurrence and epilepsy [78]. In West Africa, T. s o l i u m cysticercosis in pigs and man has been reported and reports have shown the prevalence's of porcine cysticercosis across the west African countries varies from 0.05 to 46% for both carcass inspection and serological studies and prevalence of taeniid eggs were found to be between 8.6 and 40% based on stool microscopy while copro-antigen ELISA gave a prevalence of 30% [65] as shown in Tables 1 and 2. Difference in severity of infection caused by T. s o l i u m could also explain the differences in prevalence of epilepsy.…”

“…Abattoirs and approved slabs are the only approved places for slaughter and inspection of pork meat for consumption, however most carcasses are sold uninspected hence, lack of inspection and large scale clandestine slaughter of pigs promote spread of cysticercosis [32,34]. The poor knowledge of T. s o l i u m , poor hand washing practices, not treating drinking water and handling of raw pork with bare hands promote spread of cysticercosis [65]. Reports in the region indicate that home slaughter conditions were normally substandard because they are makeshift and not constructed to actually meet the requirements of ideal slaughter premises [48].…”

“…Two studies from Ghana determined the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis by carcass inspection and obtained the prevalence of 2.31-11.70% [59,60], among a total of 4181 pigs. A total of 10 studies in Nigeria determined the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis by carcass inspection and obtained a prevalence of 1-20% [23][24][25][26][61][62][63][64][65] among a total population of 12,781 pigs. While one study determined the seroprevalence of porcine cysticercosis and obtained a seroprevalence of 46% IgG antibodies among 115 pigs [66].…”

“…Human cysticercosis from Nigeria was obtained from two studies [47,48] by using Ab ELISA with prevalence of cysticercosis ranging from 9.6 to 14.3% in a total of 425 individuals. There were five studies selected for epilepsy [43,44,51,70] with prevalence ranging from 4.3/1000 to 20.8/1000 in a total of 64,979 individuals for the epilepsy study.…”

“…In Nigeria, pork preparation method and history of epilepsy was associated with seroprevalence of cysticercosis. Heat generated from boiling or frying is likely to kill the metacestode compared with heat from roasting or barbecuing [48]. Others include type and availability of toilets, open defecation, lack of personal hygiene after toilet use, pork consumption and traditional system of pig management [47].…”