The life-cycle of Malaysian Spirometra spp. was studied under experimental conditions in the laboratory. The Cyclops were reared as the first intermediate host, the hamster as the experimental second intermediate host and cat as the definitive host. Maturation and hatching of eggs took 6 to 12 days by incubation at temperature 30 ºC. The hatched coracidium measured 46 x 34 μm. The Cyclops used were susceptible to the coracidial infection. The procercoid older than 5 days in the Cyclop body cavity had minute spines at the anterior end, calcium corpuscles in the body parenchyma and the cercomer at the posterior end. Procercoids 10 to 14 days old were infective to hamster. The plerocercoids from the hamster after 30 days were long and slender and were infective to cats. The plerocercoids experimentally inoculated to cats developed to adult worms and began to produce eggs between 10 to 60 days. Based on the results that have been obtained, a complete life-cycle was successfully elucidated in the laboratory and hamster was identified to be a good laboratory model for a second intermediate host of Spirometra sp.
The neglected tropical diseases, echinococcosis, schistosomiasis and toxoplasmosis are all globally widespread zoonotic diseases with potentially harmful consequences. There is very limited data available on the prevalence of these infections, except for schistosmiasis, in underdeveloped countries. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis, Schistosoma mansoni, and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in populations from the Monduli and Babati districts in Tanzania.
In this study, the seroprevalence of sparganosis and its relationship with sociodemographic factors in northern Tanzania have been assessed. A total of 216 serum samples from two rural districts, Monduli and Babati, were tested for sparganosis using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The seroprevalence of anti-sparganum IgG antibodies was 62.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 56.1-68.9) in all age groups. There were significant associations between district (relative risk [RR] = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.42-2.69), education (RR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.15-1.70), and pet ownership with seropositivity (RR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.02-2.16) based on univariate analysis. However, only the district was significantly associated with seropositivity (odds ratio = 4.20, 95% CI = 1.89-9.32) in binary logistic regression analysis. Providing health education to people residing in sparganosis-endemic areas is likely to improve the efficacy of preventative measures and reduce human disease burden.