Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Taeniasis in Pakistan.

Taeniasis is a neglected zoonotic disease responsible for serious health disorders, such as seizures, and may even cause death. Humans are the definitive host for the three species Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), T. saginata (beef tapeworm), and T. asiatica, harboring the adult tapeworm in the small intestine. In this study, a structured questionnaire was circulated to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) regarding taeniasis among the rural and urban communities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. A total of 770 individuals participated in the study. Of the total respondents, 44.4% had little knowledge about the disease and its impact, while the majority (70%) of respondents showed a willingness to participate in elimination campaigns by providing fecal samples. Most respondents kept raw meat separated from clean utensils (81.6%) and checked the internal temperature of meat when cooking it (75.1%). Regression analysis showed a significant association between age and knowledge, especially in the 20-30 years (p < 0.05; OR 0.574) and 30 to 40 years (p < 0.05; OR 0.553) age groups, and being a resident in Rawalpindi (p < 0.05; OR 0.68) and other cities (p < 0.05; OR 2.43), except Islamabad. Income ranges of 31,000-50,000 PKR (p < 0.05; OR: 0.574), 51,000-70,000 PKR (p < 0.05; OR 0.531), and above 70,000 PKR (p < 0.05; OR 0.42) were significantly related to attitude, compared with individuals with incomes of 10,000-30,000 PKR. Income above 70,000 PKR (p < 0.05; OR 0.87) and living in an urban area (p < 0.05; OR 0.616) compared to a rural area were significant with practices. A positive attitude was observed regarding awareness and prevention of the disease. Awareness campaigns and providing health education could be key approaches to manage this disease in the general population of developing countries.

Long-term urbanization impacts the eastern golden frog (Pelophylax plancyi) in Shanghai City: Demographic history, genetic structure, and implications for amphibian conservation in intensively urbanizing environments.

Understanding the mechanisms of how urbanization influences the evolution of native species is vital for urban wildlife ecology and conservation in the Anthropocene. With thousands of years of agriculture-dominated historical urbanization followed by 40 years of intensive and rapid urbanization, Shanghai provides an ideal environment to study how the two-stage urbanization process influences the evolution of indigenous wildlife, especially of anuran species. Therefore, in this study, we used mitochondrial Cyt-b gene, microsatellite (SSR), and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data to evaluate the demographic history and genetic structure of the eastern golden frog (Pelophylax plancyi), by sampling 407 individuals from 15 local populations across Shanghai, China. All local populations experienced bottlenecks during historical urbanization, while the local populations in urban areas maintained comparable contemporary effective population sizes (N e) and genetic diversity with suburban and rural populations. Nevertheless, the rapid modern urbanization has already imposed significant negative effects to the integrity of populations. The 15 local populations were differentiated into eight genetic clusters, showing a spatial distribution pattern consistent with the current urbanization gradient and island-mainland geography. Although moderate gene flow still occurred from the rural peripheral cluster to urban and suburban clusters, population fragmentation was more serious in the urban and suburban populations, where higher urbanization levels within 2-km radius areas showed significant negative relationships to the N e and genetic diversity of local populations. Therefore, to protect urban wildlife with limited dispersal ability, improving conditions in fragmented habitat remnants might be most essential for local populations living in more urbanized areas. Meanwhile, we highlight the need to preserve large unfragmented rural habitats and to construct corridor networks to connect discrete urban habitat remnants for the long-term wildlife conservation in intensively urbanizing environments.

The effects of dog management on Echinococcus spp. prevalence in villages on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, China.

BACKGROUND: The pastoral area of the eastern Tibetan Plateau is highly endemic for human echinococcosis. Domestic dogs are the main definitive host for the transmission of both Echinococcus granulosus (sensu lato) and E. multilocularis to humans. To control the infection risks, a national-level canine echinococcosis prevention and control programme has been implemented since 2015 in Shiqu County, Ganze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China. The objective of this study was to evaluate its effect on Echinococcus spp. prevalence in dogs. METHODS: We surveyed 69 households with 84 owned dogs, for dog fecal samples and dog keeping information in the villages of Rizha and Eduoma. A total of 105 dog fecal samples (75 from owned dogs and 30 unknown dog fecal samples) were collected between 2015-2017 to determine Echinococcus spp. prevalence using copro-PCR. Eight variables based on household surveys were included into a logistic regression model for significant risk factors to canine echinococcosis prevalence in dogs. RESULTS: Between 2015-2017, the overall Echinococcus spp. copro-DNA prevalence decreased significantly in dogs from 51.2% (2015) to 20.0% (2017) in Rizha, and insignificantly from 11.5% (2016) to 4.3% (2017) in Eduoma. Echinococcus multilocularis was the most prevalent species continually copro-DNA detected during the entire study period, while E. granulosus was rare and not detected in 2017. Echinococcus shiquicus copro-DNA prevalence (a probable non-zoonotic wildlife species) was as high in dogs as that of E. multilocularis, although only detected in 2015 in Rizha. Unleashed dog feces were mainly collected in Rizha in 2015. Although 93.2% of owned dogs were leashed, and the monthly praziquantel dosing rate reached 97%, E. multilocularis infection could still be detected in 11.1% of owned dogs in 2017. Monthly deworming, leashing dogs 24 h per day, and the avoidance of dogs feeding on livestock viscera were significant measures to prevent canine echinococcosis infection in owned dogs. CONCLUSIONS: Carrying out a canine echinococcosis prevention and control programme can significantly decrease Echinococcus spp. prevalence. The potential contact between leashed dogs and wild small mammals is still a risk for re-infection of owned dogs with E. multilocularis. This study shows that the long-term application of regular dog treatment with praziquantel in the vast and remote echinococcosis endemic areas of the eastern Tibetan Plateau can reduce transmission in dogs but remains a challenging intervention.

Echinococcus multilocularis and Echinococcus shiquicus in a small mammal community on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: host species composition, molecular prevalence, and epidemiological implications.

BACKGROUND: The eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau is now recognized as an endemic region with the highest reported human infection rates in the world of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. Existing epidemiological studies on AE have mainly focused on the synanthropic environment, while basic parasitological and ecological aspects in wildlife host species remain largely unknown, especially for small mammal hosts. Therefore, we examined small mammal host species composition, occurrence, and the prevalence of both E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus in Shiqu County (Sichuan Province, China), eastern Tibetan Plateau. RESULTS: In total, 346 small mammals from five rodent and one pika species were trapped from four randomly set 0.25 ha square plots. Two vole species, Lasiopodomys fuscus (n = 144) and Microtus limnophilus (n = 44), and the plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) (n = 135), were the three most-dominant species trapped. Although protoscoleces of E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus were only observed in L. fuscus and O. curzoniae, respectively, cox1 and nad1 gene DNA of E. shiquicus was detected in all the small mammal species except for Neodon irene, whereas E. multilocularis was detected in the three most-dominant species. The overall molecular prevalence of Echinococcus species was 5.8 (95% CI: 3.3-8.2%) ~ 10.7% (95% CI: 7.4-14.0%) (the conservative prevalence to the maximum prevalence with 95% CI in parentheses), whereas for E. multilocularis it was 4.3 (95% CI: 2.2-6.5%) ~ 6.7% (95% CI: 4.0-9.3%), and 1.5 (95% CI: 0.2-2.7%) ~ 4.1% (95% CI: 2.0-6.1%) for E. shiquicus. The prevalence of both E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus, was significantly higher in rodents (mainly voles) than in pikas. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Echinococcus haplotypes of cox1 from small mammal hosts were actively involved in the sylvatic and anthropogenic transmission cycles of E. multilocularis in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to previous studies, the current results indicated that rodent species, rather than pikas, are probably more important natural intermediate hosts of E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Thus, understanding interspecific dynamics between rodents and pikas is essential to studies of the echinococcosis transmission mechanism and human echinococcosis prevention in local communities.