Movements of Free-Range Pigs in Rural Communities in Zambia: An Explorative Study Towards Future Ring Interventions for the Control of Taenia Solium

Résumé

Abstract Background: Taenia solium typically affects resource-poor communities where pigs are allowed to roam freely, and sanitation and hygiene levels are suboptimal. Sustainable, long-term strategies are urgently needed to control the disease. Geographically targeted interventions, i.e., screening or treatment of taeniosis among people living near infected pigs (defined as ring screening and ring treatment, respectively), have been shown to be effective control options in Peru. However, these results might not be directly generalizable to sub-Saharan African settings. Pig movements play a vital role in the transmission and consequently the success of ring interventions against T. solium. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore roaming patterns of pigs in T. solium endemic communities in Zambia as a first step to evaluate whether ring interventions should be considered in Zambia. Methods: In total, 48 free-roaming pigs in two rural neighborhoods in Eastern Province of Zambia were tracked using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Tracking took place in April 2019 (end of the rainy season) and October 2019 (end of the dry season). The number of revisitations and the time spent within rings of different radii (50m, 100m, and 250m) around the coordinates of the pig owners’ household were calculated for each pig. Results: The tracking time of 43 pigs in the final analysis set ranged between 43 and 94 hours. Pigs spent a median of 31% and 13% of the tracked time outside the 50m and 100m radius, respectively, though large variations were observed between pigs. Overall, 25 pigs (58%) went outside the 250m ring at least once, and individual visits up to 16 hours were observed. In the dry season, 17 out of 23 pigs went outside the 250m radius compared to only 8 out of 20 pigs in the rainy season (p = 0.014).Conclusions: In our study sites in Zambia, the majority of pigs spent most of their time within 50 or 100 m of their owners’ home, and results are comparable with those of Peruvian pigs. Both radii could therefore be considered reasonable in future ring interventions.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Ce document est hébergé sur son dépôt institutionnel d'origine.

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0