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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 73(3), 2005, pp. 501-503
Copyright © 2005 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


SECONDARY TRANSMISSION IN PORCINE CYSTICERCOSIS: DESCRIPTION AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR CONTROL SUSTAINABILITY

ARMANDO E. GONZALEZ*, TERESA LÓPEZ-URBINA, BYRON Y. TSANG, CÉSAR M. GAVIDIA, HÉCTOR H. GARCIA, MARÍA E. SILVA, DAPHNE D. RAMOS, RAFAEL MANZANEDO, LELIA SÁNCHEZ-HIDALGO, ROBERT H. GILMAN, VICTOR C. W. TSANG, AND THE CYSTICERCOSIS WORKING GROUP IN PERU
School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru; Department of Microbiology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; Cysticercosis Unit, Instituto de Ciencias Neurológicas, Lima, Peru; Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; Immunology Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia

 

ABSTRACT

Taenia solium taeniasis/cysticercosis is one of few potentially eradicable infectious diseases and is the target of control programs in several countries. The larval stage of this zoonotic cestode invades the human brain and is responsible for most cases of adult-onset epilepsy in the world. The pig is the natural intermediate host, harboring the larvae or cysticerci. Our current understanding of the life cycle implicates humans as the only definitive host and tapeworm carrier (developing taeniasis) and thus the sole source of infective eggs that are responsible for cysticercosis in both human and pigs through oral-fecal transmission. Here we show evidence of an alternative pig-to-pig route of transmission, previously not suspected to exist. In a series of four experiments, naive sentinel pigs were exposed to pigs that had been infected orally with tapeworm segments (containing infective eggs) and moved to a clean environment. Consistently in all four experiments, at least one of the sentinel pigs became seropositive or infected with parasite cysts with much lower cyst burdens than did primarily infected animals. Second-hand transmission of Taenia solium eggs could explain the overdispersed pattern of porcine cysticercosis, with few pigs harboring heavy parasite burdens and many more harboring small numbers of parasites. This route of transmission opens new avenues for consideration with respect to control strategies.

Received December 14, 2004. Accepted for publication March 11, 2005.

Financial support: The authors are supported by research grants P01 AI51976, U01 AI35894, and TW05562 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH; grant 063109 from the Wellcome Trust; grant 23981 from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; and grant 01107 from the Food and Drug Administration. The sponsors had no role in the design or writing of this work.

* Address correspondence to Armando E. Gonzalez, School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Circunvalacion s/n, Salamanca de Monterrico, Lima 3, Peru. E-mail: emico{at}terra.com.pe

Authors’ addresses: Armando E. Gonzalez, Teresa López-Urbina, César M. Gavidia, Daphne D. Ramos, Rafael Manzanedo, and Lelia Sánchez-Hidalgo, School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Av. Circunvalación cuadra 29 s/n, San Borja, Lima, Peru, E-mail: emico{at}terra.com.pe. Héctor H. Garcia, Department of Microbiology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Honorio Delgado 480, San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru. Byron Y. Tsang and Victor C. W. Tsang, Centers for Disease Control, Room 1003, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341. María E. Silva, Centers for Disease Control, Room 1009B, 4770 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, GA 30341. Robert H. Gilman, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.

Reprint requests: Armando E. Gonzalez, School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Circunvalacion s/n, Salamanca de Monterrico, Lima 3, Peru, Telephone: +511 4368938, Fax: +511 4488931, E-mail: emico{at}terra.com.pe.




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A. G. LESCANO, H. H. GARCIA, R. H. GILMAN, M. C. GUEZALA, V. C. W. TSANG, C. M. GAVIDIA, S. RODRIGUEZ, L. H. MOULTON, J. A. GREEN, A. E. GONZALEZ, et al.
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Copyright © 2005 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.