Prevalence of cryptosporidiosis among the villagers and domestic animals in several rural areas of Korea.
The present study was undertaken to investigate the infection status of Cryptosporidium parvum in the villagers and the reservoir hosts in several rural areas in Korea. A total 5,262 fecal samples were collected from the inhabitants residing at Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollanam-do, and Gyeongsangnam-do between the dates of September, 2001 to June, 2002. In addition, 1,453 fecal samples were collected from livestock reared in Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do and Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do. All the fecal smears were prepared by formalin-ether sedimentation, and examined by light microscopy after modified acid-fast staining. The overall positive rate of human cryptosporidiosis was 3.3%. Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do showed a 8.2% positive rate and appeared as the highest endemic area among the surveyed areas. Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do showed a 0.4% positive rate and was the lowest endemic area. The positive rate of livestock infection in Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do was 94%, which was more than ten times higher than that of Chungju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do (9.3%). From these results, it was revealed that cryptosporidiosis was an endemic disease in some rural areas of Korea, and the livestock could be an important source of human infection.
Yu
Jae-Ran
JR
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chungju 380-701, Republic of Korea. jaeran.yu@kku.ac.kr
Lee
Jong-Kyu
JK
Seo
Min
M
Kim
Seok-Il
SI
Sohn
Woon-Mok
WM
Huh
Sun
S
Choi
Hae-Yeon
HY
Kim
Tong-Soo
TS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000469:parasitology*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology