Surveillance for Soil-Transmitted Helminths in High-Risk County, Mississippi, USA

Abstract

Recent reports of hookworm infection in Alabama, USA, has prompted surveillance in Mississippi, given the states’ similar environmental conditions. We collected stool specimens from 277 children in Rankin County, Mississippi. Kato–Katz microscopic smear, agar plate culture, and quantitative PCR indicated no soil-transmitted helminths. Nevertheless, further surveillance in other high-risk Mississippi counties is warranted.

Keywords

• soil-transmitted helminths
• hookworm
• parasites
• Necator americanus
• Strongyloides
• Enterobius