Dados do Trabalho

Título

Assessing potential zoonotic cycles of Strongylida and Ascaris lumbricoides / Ascaris suum in rural communities in the state of Piauí: One Health approach with molecular tools

Introdução

The One Health approach consists of considering humans, animals and the environment in an interconnected framework, improving zoonotic diseases control through a multidisciplinary perspective. Ascaris lumbricoides/Ascaris suum can circulate at the swine-human interface and Trichostrongylus spp. can infect humans, goat and sheep. Trichostrongylus eggs can be misidentified as hookworm eggs.

Objetivo(s)

To assess potential zoonotic cycles of helminths between human, swine, goat and sheep hosts.

Material e Métodos

The study was carried out in rural communities where there is a very close coexistence between humans and domestic animals and absence of sanitation systems. Residents practice open defecation. Fecal samples were collected from humans (n=682), pigs (n=87), goats (n=22) and sheep (n=11) for parasitological examinations using the Ritchie, Kato-Katz and flotation techniques, in order to identify A. lumbricoides/A. suum and Strongylida eggs. Parasitologically positive samples were submitted to PCR for amplification of a cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) 465 base pairs fragment, followed by nucleotide sequencing and computational analysis of sequences with BioEdit and BLAST.

Resultados e Conclusão

In humans, only Strongylida eggs were identified by light microscopy. In pigs, A. lumbricoides/A. suum and Strongylida eggs were found. In small ruminants, only Strongylida eggs were observed. In fecal samples from humans, amplification/sequencing/BLAST of cox1 fragment revealed only hookworms (Necator americanus and Necator spp.). We did not find human infections with A. lumbricoides/A. suum, in contrast to enzootic ascariasis in swine, with no epidemiological evidence of zoonotic transmission at the human swine interface. In addition, zoonotic Strongylida, such as Trichostrongylus spp., were not found among humans. Trichostrongylus colubriformis was found infecting goats, sheep and pigs. Small ruminants also were infected with Haemonchus contortus and Oesophagostomum columbianum, and pigs with O. dentatum, O. quadrispinulatum, O. columbianum, and Metastrongylus salmi. Conclusions. Zoonotic cycles of A. lumbricoides/A. suum and Strongylida were not characterized with the study sample size. Human hookworm infection is endemic in the communities studied, as is swine ascariasis. Strongylida parasites such as Oesophagostomum spp., Trichostrongylus spp. and Haemonchus contortus should be targeted by more efficient control actions among domestic animals.

Palavras-chave

One health; hookworms; Strongylida; Ascaris lumbricoides