Seroprevalence of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Children Up To 12 Years Old of Rural Areas from Kermanshah Province, Western Part of Iran.

Background: After the earthquake in 2017 a few new cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) were reported from SarPol-e-Zahab district of Kermanshah Province, western part of Iran. This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence in Kermanshah Province. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on children up to 12 years of age from SarPol-e-Zahab County, Kermanshah Province, western part of Iran in 2021. For each individual, a questionnaire including age, sex, clinical features, history of the disease, and contact with canines as reservoir hosts of VL were completed, separately. To determine VL seroprevalence, blood samples were collected from the children and after centrifugation, the sera samples were separated and tested using Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) for detection of anti-L. infantum antibodies. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS16. Results: Totally, 13 persons were seropositive; 7 samples with titer 1:800, 3 samples had 1:1600, 2 samples had 1:3200 and 1 sample had 1:6400. None of the seropositive cases had a history of kala-azar. There was no significant difference between males and females at titers of anti-Leishmania specific antibodies. Conclusion: L. infantum infection is being circulated with low prevalence in children up to 12 years old from SarPol-e-Zahab County but it is necessary that the surveillance system is regularly monitored among physicians and public health managers in the studied areas.

Prevalence of Trichinella spp. Infections in Hunted Wild Boars in Northern Iran.

BACKGROUND: Trichinellosis is an important and neglected foodborne zoonotic infectious disease in worldwide. The most human outbreaks in recent years have been related to consumption of wild boar meat. This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence of Trichinella spp. infections in hunted wild boars in northern Iran. METHODS: Thirty-five hunted wild boars were subjected in this study in 2015. All samples were examined by conventional artificial digestion method to detect of muscle larvae. Genomic DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method from isolated larvae. To identify the Trichinella species, a PCR-based method was applied using the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and mitochondrial small-subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of Trichinella spp. infection was 5.7% (2/35, 95%CI= 0-13.4). The mean larval burdens in two positive samples were 0.05 and 6 larvae per gr tissue muscle, respectively. The PCR reaction, using specific primers, yielded two 367 bp and 195 bp bands on agarose gel for ITS 2 and rrnS, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is a hidden burden of Trichinella spp. infection in wild boar population in Iran. Moreover, T. britovi is the prevalent species circulating in wild boars of Iran. Therefore, education of the hunters and other consumers should be performed about the risk of consumption of raw or undercooked meat and meat products from wild boars.

Meat sources of infection for outbreaks of human trichinellosis.

Trichinellosis is one of the most important foodborne zoonotic diseases, with worldwide distribution. While human risk for trichinellosis has historically been linked to pork, modern pork production systems and slaughter inspection programs have reduced or eliminated pork as a source for trichinellosis in many countries. While pork may no longer pose a significant risk for trichinellosis, many other animal species may be hosts for Trichinella species nematodes and when human consume meat from these animal species, there may be risk for acquiring trichinellosis. This review article describes the various non-pork meat sources of human trichinellosis outbreaks, where these outbreaks have occurred and some of the factors that contribute to human risk. The literature reviewed here provides evidence of the persistence of Trichinella as a human health risk for people who eat meat from feral and wild carnivores and scavengers, as well as some herbivores that have been shown to harbor Trichinella larvae. It points to the importance of education of hunters and consumers of these meats and meat products.

Application of recombinant Echinococcus granulosus antigen B to ELISA kits for diagnosing hydatidosis.

Echinococcus granulosus causes human cystic echinococcosis as an important public health problem in many regions of the world. There are some problems in primary diagnosis such as cross-reaction with sera from patients with other parasitic disease in serological tests. The use of an appropriate source of antigenic material is a very important and crucial point in the improvement of the serodiagnostic features such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. We expressed and purified recombinant AgB of Echinococcus granulosus and used as antigen in ELISA method. Serum samples were given from 36 cystic hydatid disease patients that have been confirmed by surgical operation as well as 36 healthy individuals sera were tested by ELISA method using recombinant AgB and compared with commercial kit (Euroimmun) for specificity and sensitivities value. The sensitivity of 91.66% and specificity of 97.22% were determined by homemade kit.