Prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in livestock slaughtered in selected abattoirs of Laikipia West Sub-County, Kenya

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected, emerging and reemerging zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of the dog tapeworm of the genus Echinococcus. It causes great public health and economic concerns wherever it occurs. CE is endemic in Kenya and most studies done in the country focused on two loci; Turkana and Maasai communities. The prevalence of CE has not been documented in Laikipia County which is located between two CE hot spot areas in Kenya.Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of CE in livestock slaughtered in abattoirs of Laikipia west Sub CountyDesign: A cross-sectional studySetting: Three selected abattoirs in Laikipia west Sub CountySubjects: All cattle, sheep and goats slaughtered in the selected abattoirs between October and December, 2015.Main outcome measures: Species, sex, CE status, and originResults: A total of 339 cattle, 1396 sheep and 478 goats were examined for presence of hydatid cysts in both the thoracic and abdominal cavities during postmortem meat inspection. Overall prevalence was 3.3% and individual species’ prevalence was 11.8%, 1.5% and 2.3% in cattle, sheep and goats respectively. Most (99.1 %) slaughter animals originated from the study area. Forty-three percent (31/72) of the CE positive animals had fertile cysts and 87.1% of them originated from the study area.Conclusion: The results show a significantly higher prevalence of CE in cattle with most slaughter animals and those with fertile cysts originating from the study area. Possible implications for public health and the livestock economy require immediate control measures

Molecular characterisation of echinococcus granulosus species/strains in human infections from Turkana, Kenya

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatid disease is a neglected, economically important zoonotic disease endemic in pastoralist communities, in particular the Turkana community of Kenya. It is caused by the larval stage of the highly diverse species complex of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l). The situation on the genetic diversity in humans in Kenya is not well established.Objective: To characterise Echinococcus granulosus (s.l) species/strains isolated from humans undergoing surgery in Turkana, Kenya.Design: A Cross sectional study.Setting: The Kakuma Mission Hospital and Centre for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research InstituteSubjects: Eighty (80) parasite samples from 26 subjects were analysed by Polymerase chain reaction – Restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) targeting the nad 1 gene for molecular characterizationResults: Two different genotypes of E. granulosus were identified from the samples analysed: E. granulosus sensu stricto (G1-G3) 85% of the samples analysed and E. canadensis G6/7 (15%). Most of the hydatid cysts (35%) were isolated from the liver. Other sites where cysts were isolated from include: kidney, abdomen, omentum, retroperitonium and the submandibular. Majority of cysts presented as CE1 (50%) and CE3B (42%) images according to WHO ultrasound classification. Both males and females were infected with E. granulosus s.s but only the females showed infection with E. canadensis G6/7. Chi-square test revealed significant difference between age of individuals and cysts classification by ultrasound. In addition, there was an association between cyst presentation (single or multiple) and genotype whereby all the E. canadensis G6/7 cases presented as single cysts in the infected persons.Conclusion: This study corroborates previous reports that E. canadensis G6/7 strain is present in Turkana, a place where initially only E. granulosus s.s (G1-G3) was known to be present and that E. granulosis (G1-G3) remains the most widespread genotype infecting humans in the Turkana community

Application of ultrasonography in prevalence studies of hydatid cysts in goats in north-western Turkana, Kenya and Toposaland, southern Sudan

A study was done to determine the prevalence of hydatid cysts in goats using ultrasonography. A total of 1 390 goats were examined, 43,6 % (606/1390) of them from north-western Turkana, Kenya and 56,4% (784/1390) from Toposaland, southern Sudan. Hydatid cysts were visualized in 1,82 % (11/606) of the goats from north-western Turkana and 4,34% (34/784) of those from Toposaland. Unlike abattoir surveys, the prevalence data obtained in this study were unbiased because entire flocks were examined. The lower prevalence rate of the disease in goats from Turkana was attributed to the hydatid disease control programme in that area, which is absent in Toposaland .The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.DAAD, Germany.mn201

Cystic echinococcosis in donkeys in eastern Africa

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is endemic in humans and domestic animals in eastern Africa. All the species of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato complex have been reported in this region except for E. equinus, possibly due to the small number of studies involving equids. This study reports the frequency of different Echinococcus species in donkeys from eastern Africa. A total of 5961 donkeys were examined during meat inspection in 3 slaughterhouses in Kenya. Identification of Echinococcus spp. was achieved through polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism and sequencing of the mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene. The prevalence of CE was 5.7% (337/5961). The 263 genotyped cysts belonged to E. equinus (n = 163), E. granulosus sensu stricto (n = 70), E. canadensis (G6/7) (n = 26) and E. ortleppi (n = 4). One donkey harboured a metacestode of Spirometra theileri. All E. equinus cases, except 2, originated from southern Ethiopia, whereas the other species were more evenly distributed across the study area. Most of the cysts belonging to E. equinus were fertile (111/163), while those of the other species were non-fertile. This is the first report of Echinococcus spp. in donkeys from sub-Saharan Africa and the first confirmation of E. equinus in East Africa. The frequent fertility of E. equinus cysts in donkeys affirms their suitability as intermediate hosts of this species, while low frequency and cyst fertility suggest a marginal role of donkeys in the transmission of E. granulosus s. s., E. canadensis (G6/7) and E. ortleppi

Molecular Examination of the Sympatry and Distribution of Sheep and Camel Strains of Echinococcus-Granulosus in Kenya

Previous studies have shown that camel and sheep strains of the cystic hydatid parasite Echinococcus granulosus occur in Kenya. We examined 208 larval isolates and 40 worm samples of E. granulosus from various hosts in Kenya using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of a segment of ribosomal DNA amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. This was in an effort to determine whether additional strains of E. granulosus occur in Kenya, to examine the level of genetic heterogeneity within the sheep/dog and camel/dog strains previously identified, and to map out their intermediate host range and geographic distribution in Kenya. We confirmed the existence of the two strains in Kenya and showed that the distribution of the camel strain appears restricted to the Turkana region, where camels are kept as livestock. The intermediate host range for both strains seems to be similar except that humans appear refractory to infection with the camel strain. We have also shown that although the life-cycle patterns of the two strains overlap both geographically and in intermediate and definitive hosts, the strains maintain their homogeneous genetic identity

Antibody responses in human cystic hydatid disease to the laminated layer of echinococcus granulosus

The laminated layer of hydatid cysts of Echinococcus granulosus represents a considerable amount of parasite material. Its antigenic role, however, is unclear. Extracts of laminated layer taken from sheep cysts were analysed in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS/PAGE) and were found to contain bands at 55 and 25-29 kDa, which reacted with an anti-sheep IgG antibody probe, indicating that these were likely to be host-contaminating components within the layer. However, the same bands were also recognised by a significant proportion of human hydatid patients, particularly by IgG4 antibodies, and not by negative control individuals. These individuals did not recognise immunoglobulin heavy and light chains in a sheep serum extract in the same manner. It seems likely that there are either host or parasite antigenic components at similar molecular weights or that certain parasite antigens may share epitopes with sheep immunoglobulins. The antigens at 25-29 kDa were found to be glycoproteins by lectin blot analysis and may be important markers of disease status

Hydatid cysts: does every picture tell a story?

Ultrasound imaging is an effective aid to the detection of abdominal cystic echinococcosis. Recently, the images produced have provided more information than just a diagnosis. Different cyst morphologies have been classified into types, and such classifications can be considered to represent a natural history of cyst development. Understanding how cyst structures alter with time is crucial to evaluating the effectiveness of different treatment regimes and to understanding natural degeneration of cysts that can occur. However, the developmental events seen in ultrasound need to be matched more closely to immunological and cellular events if we are to have a fuller appreciation of disease progression and regression. At a community level, the relative proportions of cyst types could also provide epidemiological information on disease transmission