Abstract:
Small-scale subsistence farmers keep over 80% of the pigs in Tanzania as a
backyard activity in mixed agro-ecological farming systems under unhygienic
conditions that risk persistency of zoonoses including Taenia solium cysticercosis.
Pig production and demand for pork has tremendously increased in
Tanzanian townships and major cities. Rural areas are the main sources of
pigs and pork and that the business is jeopardized by the presence of porcine
cysticercosis (PC). Ludewa district is one of the PC unsurveyed sources of
pork in townships and cities in Tanzania. The aim of this study was to assess
the status of PC in Ludewa district, Tanzania. Auricular venous blood samples
were collected from pigs in households for seroprevalence analysis of PC.
In this study, 10.07% (95% C.I. 06.86% - 14.47%) of the collected 268 serum
samples tested positive in the cysticercosis antigen enzyme-linked immune-
sorbent (Ag ELISA) assay. PC infection rate was 10.71% (n = 24) in
adult pigs and 6.82% (n = 3) in piglets. PC infection between adult pigs and
piglets was not statistically significant (OR = 0.6108; 95% C.I. 0.1125 - 2.1575),
p = 0.5877). The highest and lowest number of PC positive cases were detected
in Mapogoro (n = 16, 13.91%, 95% C.I. 8.41 - 21.91) and Ludewa Mjini (n = 6,
6.67%, 95% C.I. 2.74 - 14.50) villages respectively. The Chi-Square test indicated
no significant statistical difference in the status of PC infection between
the three villages (p = 0.1881) involved in this study. PC prevalence in the
study area indicates the presence of T. solium tapeworm human carriers and
environmental contamination by T. solium eggs. This is the first survey to
reveal the prevalence of PC in Ludewa district and therefore calls for further
studies on the magnitude, economic and public health impacts of taeniasis
and cysticercosis in the human population. The result of this study is also
important in the determination of effective control measures of cysticercosis.
