Assessment of Bacterial Contamination in Herbal Medicine Products Vended in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

Traditional medicines are widely used in Tanzania; however, the microbiological safety of herbal medicine products (HMPs) is unknown. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine microbial levels and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria isolated from HMPs vended in Morogoro Municipality. Fifty samples of HMPs were collected from vendors in six wards in the municipality. Bacterial contamination was determined through total viable count and bacterial isolation while susceptibility to the selected antimicrobials was determined by agar disc diffusion method. About 88% of the tested HMPs significantly (p<0.05) had higher total bacterial counts than WHO recommended levels. Ten percent of HMPs were contaminated with the pathogenic E. coli and 8% with S. aureus. The isolated bacteria were only susceptible to ciprofloxacin but were resistant to the rest of the tested antimicrobials at standard doses. Unhygienic handling practices and limited safety knowledge by the HMPs vendors was also observed. Use of the unregulated but vended HMPs may put the users at risk of acquiring infections with pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant bacteria that portends increased treatment challenges

Severe seizures in pigs naturally infected with <i>Taenia solium</i> in Tanzania

AbstractNeurocysticercosis (NCC) caused by Taenia solium is a serious neurological disease. In humans neurological symptoms have been thoroughly studied and documented, however, there is limited information on clinical signs in pigs infected with T. solium cysticerci. Among the scientific community, it is in fact believed that pigs with NCC rarely show neurological signs. The aim of this study was to describe clinical manifestations associated with NCC in pigs and correlate the manifestations to the number and distribution of cysticerci in brains of naturally infected pigs in Tanzania. Sixteen infected and 15 non-infected control pigs were observed for 14 days during daylight hours, and subsequently videotaped for another 14 consecutive days using close circuit television cameras. All occurrences of abnormal behaviour (trembling, twitching, mouth and ear paralysis, ataxia, dribbling, salivating, eye blinking, walking in circles) were recorded. At the end of the recording period, pigs were slaughtered and their brains dissected, cysticerci counted and locations noted. During the recording period, two infected pigs were observed having seizures. Some of the observed autonomic signs during a seizure were chewing motions with foamy salivation and ear stiffening. Motor signs included tonic muscle contractions followed by a sudden diminution in all muscle function leading to collapse of the animal. Stereotypic walking in circles was observed on several occasions. At dissection, both pigs had a high number of brain cysticerci (241 and 247 cysticerci). The two pigs with seizures were also older (36 months) compared to the others (18.3 months, ± 8.2 standard deviation). Results of this study have shown that pigs with NCC can develop clinical signs and suffer from seizures like humans with symptomatic NCC. Results of this study could potentially open up a new experimental pathway to explore the aetiology of neurological symptoms in humans with NCC associated epilepsy

Spatial Clustering of Porcine Cysticercosis in Mbulu District, Northern Tanzania

Taenia solium is a tapeworm that causes two different disease conditions. In its adult stage, it inhabits the small intestine of human, a condition known as taeniosis, which is characterised by mild symptoms including abdominal disconfort. In the larval stage, T. solium can infect humans and various animal species, mainly pigs, causing cysticercosis. Taeniosis is acquired through consumption of inadequately cooked infected meat, while cysticercosis is acquired through ingestion of tapeworm eggs in foodstuffs contaminated with faeces from a human tapeworm carrier. Cysticercosis of human central nervous tissues (neurocysticercosis) causes serious syndromes such as epilepsy. Transmission of T. solium is facilitated by several factors such as presence of tapeworm carriers, poor sanitation and poor pig husbandry, which allow pigs to access human faeces. Nevertheless, the role of these factors in parasite transmission may vary with different cultural settings. Following an incidence and a prevalence studies in a rural area of northern Tanzania, there was a significant spatial clustering of porcine cysticerocis, suggesting focal distribution of transmission risk factors, which could be targeted for interventions. The study also revealed that despite the low sensitivity of the lingual examination method to detect porcine cysticercosis, it could highlight the potential ‘hotspots’ of the infection

Spatial and Temporal Changes in Taenia solium Cysticercosis Seroprevalence among Pigs in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Taenia solium remains among the major causes of epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the geospatial distribution of the parasite is important to inform control strategies. This study assessed spatiotemporal changes in the T. solium infection among pigs from a rural area in southwestern Tanzania. Secondary data from a previous repeated cross-sectional study in the Mbeya and Mbozi districts were used, involving sixteen villages, eight from each of the two districts. Serum samples were collected from 482, 460, and 421 pigs in 221, 196, and 139 households, respectively, at seven-month intervals. Ag-ELISA was used to analyse the samples for circulating antigens. Geographic coordinates of the pig corrals adjacent to the households were also recorded using a hand-held GPS device. SatScan v9.7 software was used to perform purely spatial scan analysis, based on the Bernoulli distribution model. Spatial clustering was assumed based on the relative risk of T. solium seropositivity. Statistical significance (set at 0.05) of the cluster was determined by comparing the log-likelihood ratio with the null distribution derived by Monte Carlo simulations. The window with the highest log-likelihood ratio was regarded as a primary cluster. Results showed significant clustering of T. solium cases with the presence of a single primary cluster during each phase. The relative risk of T. solium infection among pigs within the primary cluster areas ranged from 3.0 to 6.7. The radii of the clusters expanded from 1.83 to 27.7 km before shrinking to 1.5 km, and cluster location drifted from north to central and then to the southern part of the study area. These findings suggest that with restricted resources, control measures in the area could be focused on pockets of high transmission. However, changes in the size and location of clusters suggest that to be effective, interventions should be instituted soon after clusters are identified

DNA-Detection Based Diagnostics for Taenia solium Cysticercosis in Porcine

Porcine cysticercosis is a neglected and underestimated disease caused by metacestode stage of the tapeworm, Taenia solium (T. solium). Pigs are the intermediate hosts of T. solium while human are the only known definitive host. The disease has an economic consequence because the affected farmers lose 50−100 percent of the value of pigs if they are infected. Lack of affordable, easy to use, sensitive, and specific molecular diagnostic tools for detection of infections at the farm level hinders the control of porcine cysticercosis in endemic areas. A number of DNA based diagnostic assays for the detection of T. solium infections in pigs have been developed and evaluated but none is applicable at low-resource areas where this disease is an endemic. This review focuses mainly on DNA based diagnostic methods, their sensitivity, specificity, and utilization at low-resource areas. We summarized data from 65 studies on the current DNA-detection based diagnostic techniques for T. solium cysticercosis in porcine, published in English between the years 2000–2018, identified through PubMed search engine. Of the different polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays developed for identification of T. solium, the most sensitive (97−100%) and specific (100%) one is nested PCR. One study utilized loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) as a diagnostic tool for the detection of T. solium infections though its field use was never determined. Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) has been evaluated as a diagnostic tool for a variety of diseases, but has never been exploited for the diagnosis of cysticercosis/taeniasis. In conclusion, several molecular methods have been developed and evaluated in lab settings. However, there is need to validate these methods as a diagnostic tool to diagnose porcine cysticercosis in low-resource areas

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to epilepsy in rural Burkina Faso

International audienceAbstractOBJECTIVES:The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding epilepsy and neurocysticercosis in the rural areas of Burkina Faso.MATERIALS:The interviews were designed to assess general perception of epilepsy, cultural beliefs and practices regarding epilepsy and people with epilepsy (PWE), and knowledge about the link between human epilepsy and porcine cysticercosis. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews with different categories of community members, including PWE, healthcare providers (HCPs), and traditional healers in three villages in rural Burkina Faso.RESULTS:All respondents showed a good knowledge of epilepsy symptoms but very little knowledge on causes of the disease. In this community, epilepsy was often associated with witchcraft (commonly termed "black magic"). People with epilepsy were marginalized and denied certain rights such as school education and marriage. They also relied mainly on traditional medicine with a prominent role played by traditional healers. While medical personnel knew that controlling seizures would depend on the cause, the traditional healers reported to be able to cure all kinds of epilepsy as long as the patient adhered to taboos. The main "treatments" prescribed by traditional healers were to stay away from fire and refrain from pork consumption. Pork fat was believed to reduce the effectiveness of the traditional medicine.CONCLUSION:For effective monitoring and management of epilepsy in Burkina Faso, there is a need to promote better knowledge of the disease in the community, including HCPs, and traditional healers

Knowledge, perceptions and practices regarding brucellosis in pastoral communities of Kagera Region in Tanzania

Objective: A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2017 to assess the knowledge, perception and practices on brucellosis by pastoralists of Kagera ecosystem in Tanzania, using qualitative methods. Materials and methods: Five focus group discussions of six participants each were conducted with livestock farmers, administration leaders, religious representatives and youth. In addition, discussions with three key informants were conducted, involving officials of livestock, wildlife and public health departments in each district. Data were analyzed using content analysis with inductive and deductive methods. Results: The study revealed low knowledge regarding brucellosis among respondents. Although participants recognized brucellosis as a zoonotic disease, they consider it of less importance. In addition, participants had low knowledge on causes, symptoms and mode of transmission of this disease. However, they perceived the interactions between humans, livestock and wildlife together with movements between borders to be potential risks for introduction of brucellosis in their communities. Moreover, their habit of drinking unpasteurized milk, the lack of protective gears during assisting animals giving birth and poor vaccination program need to be improved by community health education. Conclusion: A coordinated One Health approach is needed and further studies are suggested to reveal the status of brucellosis in Kagera ecosystem to guide its control and prevention. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2018; 5(3.000): 343-353