Tungíase: doença negligenciada causando patologia grave

Table 1 Animals examined for tungiasis, the number infested and their parasitic load
Lagos, Nigeria. The 1200 inhabitants are subsistence
farmers, and many families keep domestic animals such as
dogs, cats, goats and pigs that roam freely. Detailed characteristics
of the study area and the population are presented
elsewhere. 6
First, we carried out a census of 50% of randomly selected
households in Erekiti. Then, all households with domestic
animals were visited for further investigation. After receiving
the informed consent of their owners, pets and/or livestock
were clinically examined over the whole body surface for
the presence of embedded jigger fleas. Trapped rodents
were killed with chloroform and examined.
Results
The overall prevalence of jigger flea infestation in the 133
animals examined was 21.8% (Table 1). The prevalence
and intensity of the infestation in the animals varied considerably.
It was noticeably higher in pigs and dogs than in
the house rat, Rattus rattus (Table 1). The median number
of lesions per animal in the pigs was more than twice that
found in the dogs and more than four times that found in
the rats (Table 1); 83% (184/221 lesions) of the total parasite
load in the animals was seen in the pigs. There were no tungiasis
lesions observed in the goats, sheep, cats or cows.
Discussion
Prevalence No. of lesions
n positive
Our data confirm the notion that infestation of animals with
T. penetrans in endemic communities is a common phenomenon.
In the community studied, human infestation correlated
with the presence of pigs in the household. 7 We can now
show that, in this community which is typical for rural
Nigeria, pigs in fact appear to be the most important
animal reservoir, followed by dogs and rodents, for
T. penetrans. Pigs were the most commonly owned domestic
animals. They presented with highest parasite load and
accounted for the vast majority of the total number of tungiasis
lesions found in the animals.
Other studies from West Africa, namely in Cameroon and
São Tomé e Príncipe, also reported finding tungiasis in
pigs. 3,4 Interestingly, this is in contrast to the observations
in endemic communities in Brazil, where dogs and rats
seem to be the most important reservoirs – free-roaming
pigs were banned from endemic communities in Brazil
some years ago. 1,8 Introducing the banning of free-roaming
pigs in West African communities would probably also
reduce human attack in that area.
We conclude that tungiasis is a zoonotic disease, and that
pigs, dogs and rodents are important reservoir hosts in rural
Percentage
(95% confidence intervals) n (%)
Pigs 17/31 54.8 (36.0–72.7) 184 (83.3) 9 (6–14)
Dogs 5/11 45.5 (16.8–76.6) 21 (9.5) 4 (3–5)
Rattus rattus 5/17 29.4 (10.3–56.0) 13 (5.9) 2 (2–4)
Mus minutoides 2/13 15.4 (1.9–45.5) 3 (1.4) 1.5 (1–2)
Goats 0/28 – – – –
Sheep 0/15 – – – –
Cats 0/9 – – – –
Cows 0/9 – – – –
Total 29/133 21.8 (14.7–28.9) 221 100.0 6 (3–9)
Of those with tungiasis
Nigeria. Consequently, we suggest that a sustained effort is
made to: reduce the ownership of pigs and dogs in these
areas; educate the public about the health issues; improve
the standard of housing and treat any members of the community
suffering from tungiasis. Pigs should be confined to
pigpens. The reduction of the rodent population will further
reduce the transmission of T. penetrans.
References
Short Reports
Median per animal
(interquartile range)
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