Epidemiological tools for effective surveillance of porcine cysticercosis in Africa

Abstract

Porcine cysticercosis is widely distributed in developing countries. Many tools were developed for effective control of the tapeworm in endemic countries. Tongue examination, meat inspection and Ag-ELISA were widely used in epidemiological survey. Both tongue examination and meat inspection are highly specific but less sensitive. To improve performance of Ag-ELISA, unambiguous test based on nanobodies was performed. Immunodiagnostic tests based on PCR, flows through assay (FTA), Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption–Ionization Time of Flight (SELDI-TOF) were also developed. Less data were reported using spatial statistical analysis hence multiples approaches were available for effective epidemiological survey of porcine cysticercosis.

Keywords

• Ag-ELISA
• cysticercosis
• epidemiology
• GIS