title: Environmental Contamination by Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato Eggs in Relation to Slaughterhouses in Urban and Rural Areas in Tunisia.
abstract: Hydatidosis has become a real concern for health care institutions and animal rearers in Tunisia. The Tunisian endemicity is aggravated by the growing number of dogs and the difficulty of getting rid of contaminated viscera because of the lack of equipment in most slaughterhouses. Therefore, microscopic and molecular tools were applied to evaluate the role of slaughterhouses in canine infection and Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s. l.) egg dissemination. Exposure risk to E. granulosus s. l. eggs in urban and rural areas was explored in order to implant preventive and adapted control strategies. Microscopic examinations detected taeniid eggs in 152 amongst 553 fecal samples. The copro-PCR demonstrated that 138 of 152 taeniid samples analyzed were positive for E. granulosus s. l. DNA. PCR-RFLP demonstrated that all isolated samples belonged to E. granulosus sensu stricto (s. s.). An important environmental contamination index (25.0%) by E. granulosus s. l. eggs was demonstrated. The average contamination index from the regions around slaughterhouses (23.3%; 95% CI: 17.7-28.9%) was in the same range as detected in areas located far from slaughterhouses (26.0%, 95% CI: 21.3-30.8%). Echinococcosis endemic areas were extended in both rural (29.9%, 95% CI: 24.8-34.9%) and urban locations (18.1%, 95% CI: 13.0-22.9%). The pathogen dissemination is related neither to the presence/absence of slaughterhouses nor to the location in urban or rural areas, but is probably influenced by human activities (home slaughtering) and behavior towards the infected viscera.
authors.affiliation: LP3M: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie Médicale et Moléculaire, LR12ES08, Département de Biologie Clinique B, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Monastir, 1 Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaâbane-Banaoues
authors.affiliation: LP3M: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie Médicale et Moléculaire, LR12ES08, Département de Biologie Clinique B, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Monastir, 1 Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oudni-M'rad
authors.affiliation: LP3M: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie Médicale et Moléculaire, LR12ES08, Département de Biologie Clinique B, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Monastir, 1 Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: M'rad
authors.affiliation: LP3M: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie Médicale et Moléculaire, LR12ES08, Département de Biologie Clinique B, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Monastir, 1 Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mezhoud
authors.affiliation: LP3M: Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie Médicale et Moléculaire, LR12ES08, Département de Biologie Clinique B, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université de Monastir, 1 Rue Avicenne, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie ; Laboratoire de Parasitologie, E.P.S. F. Bourguiba, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Hamouda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Babba
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004285:Dogs; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D048209:Echinococcus granulosus / Q000502:physiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D012424:Rural Population; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato; Tunisia; cystic echinococcosis; egg; environmental contamination; slaughterhouse