title: GPS Tracking of Free-Ranging Pigs to Evaluate Ring Strategies for the Control of Cysticercosis/Taeniasis in Peru.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Taenia solium, a parasitic cestode that affects humans and pigs, is the leading cause of preventable epilepsy in the developing world. T. solium eggs are released into the environment through the stool of humans infected with an adult intestinal tapeworm (a condition called taeniasis), and cause cysticercosis when ingested by pigs or other humans. A control strategy to intervene within high-risk foci in endemic communities has been proposed as an alternative to mass antihelminthic treatment. In this ring strategy, antihelminthic treatment is targeted to humans and pigs residing within a 100 meter radius of a pig heavily-infected with cysticercosis. Our aim was to describe the roaming ranges of pigs in this region, and to evaluate whether the 100 meter radius rings encompass areas where risk factors for T. solium transmission, such as open human defecation and dense pig activity, are concentrated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we used Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to track pig roaming ranges in two rural villages of northern Peru. We selected 41 pigs from two villages to participate in a 48-hour tracking period. Additionally, we surveyed all households to record the locations of open human defecation areas. We found that pigs spent a median of 82.8% (IQR: 73.5, 94.4) of their time roaming within 100 meters of their homes. The size of home ranges varied significantly by pig age, and 93% of the total time spent interacting with open human defecation areas occurred within 100 meters of pig residences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that 100 meter radius rings around heavily-infected pigs adequately capture the average pig's roaming area (i.e., home range) and represent an area where the great majority of exposure to human feces occurs.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ian W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Pray
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
authors.forename: Dallas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health Tumbes, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Tumbes, Peru.
authors.forename: Viterbo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ayvar
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health Tumbes, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Tumbes, Peru.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muro
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health Tumbes, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Tumbes, Peru.|Inserm Neuroépidémiologie Tropicale (NET), Institut d'Epidémiologie et de Neurologie Tropicale (IENT), Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Limoges, Limoges, France.|Office of Training and Research. Regional Hospital II-2, Tumbes, Peru.
authors.forename: Luz M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Moyano
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Armando E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Health Tumbes, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Tumbes, Peru.|Department of Microbiology, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Hector H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.|Center for Global Health Tumbes, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Tumbes, Peru.
authors.forename: Seth E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: O'Neal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion; D010568:Peru; D012424:Rural Population; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D041201:Taenia solium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013622:Taeniasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary