Short report: Human Trichostrongylus colubriformis infection in a rural village in Laos

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 Jan;84(1):52-4. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.10-0385.

Abstract

In Lahanam Village, Savannakhet Province, Laos, 125 of 253 villagers (49.4%) were found by fecal examination to harbor hookworm eggs. The eggs were heterogeneous in morphology and size, suggesting infections of mixed nematode species. To confirm the hookworm egg species, on a voluntary basis, 46 hookworm egg-positive participants were treated with albendazole, and post-treatment adult worms were collected from purged fecal samples. The common human hookworm was found in only 3 participants; 1 case of Necator americanus, and 2 cases of Ancylostoma duodenale. In contrast, adult Trichostrongylus worms were expelled from most participants (43 of 46, 93.5%). The Trichostrongylus species were confirmed by morphology and internal transcribed spacer 2 sequences; all worms were of the same species (T. colubriformis). In addition, some Trichostrongylus worms were obtained from a goat in the same village and identified as T. colubriformis. The results suggested that T. colubriformis was the main zoonotic species causing hookworm infections in the village.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Albendazole / therapeutic use
  • Animals
  • Anthelmintics / therapeutic use
  • Female
  • Goat Diseases / parasitology
  • Goats
  • Humans
  • Laos / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Phylogeny
  • Rural Population
  • Trichostrongylosis / drug therapy
  • Trichostrongylosis / epidemiology*
  • Trichostrongylosis / parasitology
  • Trichostrongylus / classification*
  • Trichostrongylus / genetics
  • Trichostrongylus / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Anthelmintics
  • Albendazole