Browsing by Author "Mwang'onde, Beda"

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    Seroprevalence of circulating taeniid antigens in pigs and associated risk factors in Kongwa district, Tanzania
    (Elsevier, 2019-10-29) Maganira, Justine; Mwang'onde, Beda; Kidima, Winifrida; Mwita, Chacha; Hoglund, Johan
    The aim of this study was to investigate exposure to porcine cysticercosis (PC) and associated risk factors in the Kongwa District, eastern-central Tanzania. For the first time a cross-sectional investigation of the seroprevalence in pigs using a commercial genus specific cysticercosis enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (apDia Ag-ELISA) was undertaken in eastern-central Tanzania. Moreover, the identity of suspected T. solium cysts from pigs in the study area were confirmed by sequencing parasites’ mitochondrial cox1 gene. Structured questionnaires and direct observations were used to investigate risk factors associated with parasite transmission. A total of 102 pig-keeping households were surveyed during the dry season between July and August 2017 and 126 households in the rainy season between March and April 2018. Of the 447 examined pigs, 77 (17%, 95% C.I. 14%e20%) tested positive in the ELISA. Seroprevalence was higher in pigs examined during the rainy (21%, 95% C.I. 16%e26%) than dry (12%, 95% C.I. 7%e17%) season (p ¼ 0.019). Eight cyst-positive-pigs were confirmed to be infected with T. solium by sequencing. Risk factors associated with PC seropositivity included origin of piglets or pigs (OR ¼ 0.27, 95% C.I. 0.13 e0.42, p ¼ 0.001), socioeconomic factors and pig production system (OR ¼ 0.22, 95% C.I. 0.07e0.37, p ¼ 0.005) and sanitation and hygiene practices (OR ¼ 0.19, 95% C.I. 0.04e0.34, p ¼ 0.014). This study has recorded a high Taenia spp. seroprevalence in pigs in Kongwa suggesting the presence of people in the community carrying the adult parasite, Taenia solium. Our findings also suggest risk of infection by T. solium to people in urban centres and cities consuming pigs from rural areas in Kongwa. The high seroprevalence in Kongwa calls for further studies on taeniasis and cysticercosis in the human population in order to determine suitable control strategies
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    The status and health burden of neurocysticercosis in Mbulu district, northern Tanzania
    (BioMed Central (BMC), 2018) Mwang'onde, Beda; Mwita, Chacha; Nkwengulila, Gamba
    Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the extent and health burden of neurocysticercosis in the general community of the Mbulu district, northern Tanzania. About 1051 randomly select participants were screened for human cysticercosis. The Cysticercus Western Blot IgG and Computed Tomography scan were used to detect infection by cysticerci. The DALYs was used to assess the community’s health burden vis-a-vis neurocysticercosis. Results: The sero-prevalence of HCC was 16.27%. About 76% of 25 selected human cysticercosis sero-positives had neurocysticercosis suggestive lesions on CT scan and 74% had history of epilepsy. Epilepsy caused 2.8 years of life lost and 2.2 healthy years of life lost due to disability per 1000 person-years in Mbulu. The average DALYs imposed due to neurocysticercosis and epilepsy were 3.0 and 3.9 per 1000 person-years, respectively. Neurocysticercosis is a serious public health concern in northern Tanzania.
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    Validation of droplet digital Polymerase Chain Reaction for the detection and absolute quantification of Taenia solium eggs in spiked soil samples
    (Elsevier, 2019-09-14) Maganira, Justine; Mwang'onde, Beda; Kidima, Winifrida; Mwita, Chacha; Nkwengulila, Gamba; Hoglund, Johan
    To enable the detection of taeniid eggs in environmental samples, a sensitive technology is required. In this study, we validated the effectiveness of a digital droplet Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR) assay for detection, identification and absolute quantification of taeniid DNA from artificially contaminated soils with varying numbers of taeniid eggs using a set of universal primers, JB3 & JB4.5. The results showed that the number of cox1 copies detected increased gradually for both species with the number of taeniid eggs added to the different soil types. The highest cox1 DNA copies recovery for Taenia solium and T. lynciscapreoli was from the sand soil with lowest recovery being observed in clay soils. Therefore, ddPCR is a promising technology for screening of taeniid eggs from soil samples collected in the environment irrespective of the soil type and the number of eggs. The potential of the ddPCR protocol to detect taeniid egg DNA in spiked soil samples has great practical application for taeniid egg screening in soils from endemic areas. However, when universal primers are used in screening environmental samples, the identity of ddPCR positive samples must be confirmed by sequencing. In addition, more validation studies using species-specific primers and field soil samples is recommended.