Mutebi Francis, Krücken Jürgen, Feldmeier Hermann, Waiswa Charles, Mencke Norbert, von Samson-Himmelstjerna Georg
School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Resources, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, P.O. box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163, Berlin, Germany.
Parasit Vectors. 2016 Jan 27;9:44. doi: 10.1186/s13071-016-1320-0.
Tunga penetrans (Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae) causes severe morbidity among heavily infected humans and animals in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. The clinical pathology of tungiasis in animals has never been studied systematically.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted between January to March 2015, aimed at describing tungiasis-associated clinical pathology in 121 and 20 T. penetrans-infected pigs and dogs, living in nine and five endemic rural villages respectively located in Bugiri District, Busoga, Uganda.
The parasite load of infected animals ranged from one to 246 (median 8) and one to eight (median 2) in pigs and dogs, respectively. In pigs 99.3% and in dogs 100% of the lesions were located on feet. In pigs, hind legs were significantly more affected than front legs (90.9% vs. 57.9%; p = 0.002) and also had more lesions than the front legs (median 5 vs. 1; p = 0.0001). However, in dogs localization of lesions between front and hind legs never differed significantly (front, 50% vs. hind, 65%; p = 0.51) and so were the number of lesions (median front = 0.5 vs. median hind = 2; p = 0.7). Acute and chronic clinical pathology coexisted. The most common disease manifestations in pigs were hoof wall erosions (68.6%), tissue necrosis of hoof wall and skin (66.1), pain at infection sites (47.9%), hoof deformity (45.5%), fissures (44.6%) and edema (44.6%). In dogs, tungiasis mainly presented with pain at attachment site (80%), ulcers (55%), necrosis (30%) as well as hyperemia and edema (both 15%). One pig had lost dew claws while two had loose detaching claws. Despite a lower number of sand fleas, a higher proportion of infected dogs (20%) than pigs (5.8%) exhibited functional limb use difficulties (p = 0.05).
The pattern of clinical manifestations in pigs and dogs were very similar to those reported from affected humans and rats. The important morbidity associated with animal tungiasis makes the disease a serious veterinary health problem in sub-Saharan Africa warranting treatment and control for optimal animal production.
穿皮潜蚤（昆虫纲，蚤目，潜蚤科）在拉丁美洲和撒哈拉以南非洲的重度感染人类和动物中会引发严重疾病。动物潜蚤病的临床病理学从未得到系统研究。
这是一项于2015年1月至3月开展的横断面研究，旨在描述分别生活在乌干达布索加地区布吉里区9个和5个流行农村村庄的121头和20只感染穿皮潜蚤的猪和狗的潜蚤病相关临床病理学特征。
感染动物的寄生虫负荷在猪中为1至246（中位数8），在狗中为1至8（中位数2）。猪身上99.3%的病变以及狗身上100%的病变位于足部。在猪中，后腿比前腿受影响更显著（90.9%对57.9%；p = 0.002），且后腿的病变也比前腿更多（中位数5对1；p = 0.0001）。然而，在狗中，前腿和后腿之间的病变部位差异不显著（前腿50%对后腿65%；p = 0.51），病变数量也无显著差异（前腿中位数 = 0.5对后腿中位数 = 2；p = 0.7）。急性和慢性临床病理学特征并存。猪中最常见的疾病表现为蹄壁糜烂（68.6%）、蹄壁和皮肤组织坏死（66.1%）、感染部位疼痛（47.9%）、蹄畸形（45.5%）、裂缝（44.6%）和水肿（44.6%）。在狗中，潜蚤病主要表现为附着部位疼痛（80%）、溃疡（55%）、坏死（30%）以及充血和水肿（均为15%）。一头猪失去了副爪，两头猪的爪子松动易脱落。尽管沙蚤数量较少，但感染狗（20%）出现肢体功能使用困难的比例高于猪（5.8%）（p = 0.05）。
猪和狗的临床表现模式与受影响的人类和大鼠所报告的非常相似。与动物潜蚤病相关的严重发病率使该疾病成为撒哈拉以南非洲严重的兽医健康问题，需要进行治疗和控制以实现最佳动物生产。
