Amoah Linda Ama Owusuaa, Oppong Mavis, Amoah Solomon Kofi, Bimi Langbong
Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Hohoe, Ghana.
Sci One Health. 2023 Jun 16;2:100018. doi: 10.1016/j.soh.2023.100018. eCollection 2023.
Animal reservoirs of spp., a neglected parasitic infection, are frequently found in many Ghanaian neighbourhoods. Despite various interactions occurring between these animals and humans which sustain zoonosis, not much focus has been directed at disease surveillance in Ghana, necessitating this study.
The study was cross-sectional. It combined the collection of biological samples with the survey approach. The study used purposive and convenience sampling techniques to collect data from eligible participants in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Besides the collection of biological samples from animals which were processed using molecular techniques, semi-structured questionnaires were administered to the pet owners.
In sum, 32.2% (95% CI, 27.6%-37.0%) of the targeted animals were positive for , with most of the cases being found in dogs and rodents. Among the 204 rodents, more were positive for this parasite compared to the others. From the survey, some risk factors culminating in high disease exposure were identified: more than one-third of pet owners did not deworm their pets although about a fourth shared bed with them. In addition, many respondents' kids played with these pets but not all supervised them to practice hand hygiene. Also, a good number of pet owners confirmed the frequent exposure of their pets to rodents.
The relatively high prevalence of recorded in animals and the increasing exposure of humans to this parasite point to a higher risk for human toxocariasis. Furthermore, found in cats cannot be ignored and merits further investigations. For Ghana to achieve SDG 3 by 2030, priority must also be placed on neglected diseases which calls for an integrated approach to disease surveillance and a redirection of research focus using the one health concept.
旋毛虫属是一种被忽视的寄生虫感染，其动物宿主在加纳的许多社区中经常被发现。尽管这些动物与人类之间发生了各种维持人畜共患病的相互作用，但加纳对疾病监测的关注并不多，因此有必要开展这项研究。
该研究为横断面研究。它将生物样本的采集与调查方法相结合。该研究采用目的抽样和便利抽样技术，从加纳大阿克拉地区的合格参与者中收集数据。除了从动物身上采集生物样本并使用分子技术进行处理外，还向宠物主人发放了半结构化问卷。
总体而言，32.2%（95%置信区间，27.6%-37.0%）的目标动物旋毛虫检测呈阳性，大多数病例见于狗和啮齿动物。在204只啮齿动物中，感染这种寄生虫的比例高于其他动物。通过调查，确定了一些导致高疾病暴露风险的因素：超过三分之一的宠物主人没有给宠物驱虫，尽管约四分之一的人与宠物同床共眠。此外，许多受访者的孩子与这些宠物玩耍，但并非所有人都监督他们洗手。此外，相当多的宠物主人证实他们的宠物经常接触啮齿动物。
动物体内旋毛虫的相对高流行率以及人类对这种寄生虫的接触增加表明人类患弓蛔虫病的风险更高。此外，猫体内发现的旋毛虫也不容忽视，值得进一步调查。为使加纳在2030年前实现可持续发展目标3，还必须优先关注被忽视的疾病，这需要采用综合方法进行疾病监测，并运用“同一健康”概念重新调整研究重点。
