Thirty-Seven Human Cases of Sparganosis from Ethiopia and South Sudan Caused by Spirometra Spp

Thirty-seven unusual specimens, three from Ethiopia and 34 from South Sudan, were submitted since 2012 for further identification by the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (EDEP) and the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program (SSGWEP), respectively. Although the majority of specimens...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 2015-08, Vol.93 (2), p.350-355
Main Authors: Eberhard, Mark L, Thiele, Elizabeth A, Yembo, Gole E, Yibi, Makoy S, Cama, Vitaliano A, Ruiz-Tiben, Ernesto
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Animals
Child
Disease Eradication
Dracunculiasis - prevention & control
Dracunculus Nematode - isolation & purification
Ethiopia - epidemiology
Female
Food Contamination
Food Parasitology
Foodborne Diseases - parasitology
Humans
Larva
Male
Middle Aged
Sparganosis - diagnosis
Sparganosis - epidemiology
Specimen Handling
Spirometra - isolation & purification
Sudan - epidemiology
Water Supply
Young Adult
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Thirty-seven unusual specimens, three from Ethiopia and 34 from South Sudan, were submitted since 2012 for further identification by the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (EDEP) and the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program (SSGWEP), respectively. Although the majority of specimens emerged from sores or breaks in the skin, there was concern that they did not represent bona fide cases of Dracunculus medinensis and that they needed detailed examination and identification as provided by the World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO CC) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All 37 specimens were identified on microscopic study as larval tapeworms of the spargana type, and DNA sequence analysis of seven confirmed the identification of Spirometra sp. Age of cases ranged between 7 and 70 years (mean 25 years); 21 (57%) patients were male and 16 were female. The presence of spargana in open skin lesions is somewhat atypical, but does confirm the fact that populations living in these remote areas are either ingesting infected copepods in unsafe drinking water or, more likely, eating poorly cooked paratenic hosts harboring the parasite.
ISSN:0002-9637
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.15-0236