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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Laos has a largely rural based population primarily concerned with village-based subsistance agriculture. Of the population of 5.5 million people, 81% live in rural areas and 2 million people are economically active in agriculture.12 Of the 0.8 million households in Laos in 1999, 0.67 million (83%) were considered agricultural holdings, of which 94% were village smallholder producers using traditional practices.13 Throughout Laos and other developing countries in Southeast Asia, pigs are an important source of food and cash income for smallholder farmers. Husbandry practices vary within villages. Older pigs may be penned or tethered, although it is also common for pigs to roam freely in the village.
A general practitioner from Udomxay District Hospital (northern Laos) (SH) reported an outbreak of suspected trichinellosis with 37 patients seen in the first week of June 2005. Seven patients had severe disease and were hospitalized. The patients presented with intense myalgia, facial or general edema, fever, and peripheral blood hyperoeosinophilia. Of sera from 13 patients with suspected trichinellosis, 8 had raised serum creatinine phosphokinase concentrations (CPK; mean, 1,957; 95% confidence interval, 470–3,243 UI/L).
The patients histories suggested that they had all participated in a funeral ceremony in Udomxay. In June 2005, we conducted a rapid outbreak study, which revealed the largest trichinellosis outbreak recorded in Laos.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Patient definition. The patient case definition was adapted to the outbreak situation as those who had fever, myalgia, or facial edema. They were classified as follows. 1) A confirmed case was defined as a patient presenting with one or more of the symptoms mentioned above with a positive serologic test result for Trichinella antibodies (ELISA or Western blot). 2) A probable case was defined as a patient with at least three of the following: fever, myalgia, facial edema, and peripheral blood eosinophilia > 1,000 cells/mm3. 3) A suspected case was defined as a patient with eosinophilia > 1,000/mm3, a patient diagnosed and reported as having trichinellosis by a physician but without any of the aforementioned conditions, or a patient reported to the public health authorities as having tri-chinellosis without additional data. The method used to estimate the number of cases is described in the analysis section.
Hospital study. We reviewed all in- and outpatients records to identify cases. We interviewed outpatients with a structured questionnaire recording meat intake details (timing, type, origin, type of meal, quantity consumed), number of people sharing meals, clinical manifestations, and socioeconomic conditions. Blood samples were taken for blood cell counts and serology. Treatment included albendazole 800 mg/d for 2 weeks and prednisolone 0.5–1 mg/kg/d for 7 days for patients with intense myalgia.
Laboratory procedures. Peripheral blood cell counts were performed by microscopy of Giemsa-stained films. Sera from the first 13 patients were assayed for CPK concentration on a Cobas Integra 800 (Roche) by Brialab, Bangkok, Thailand. Finger prick blood spots was collected on no. 4 Whatman filter paper from each suspected hospital case and was sent for serologic confirmation by ELISA and Western blot analysis at the French National Reference Center for Trichinella, Cochin Hospital, Paris, France. Blood samples were eluted from filter papers and assayed by the commercially available Trichinella ELISA and Western blot kits (Biotrin International & LDBio Diagnostics, Lyons, France) as previously described.14
Village-based study. We performed active detection of probable cases in the villages of the index cases. The number of participants at the social events was estimated. We searched for patients who did not participate to the main ceremonies to identify possible sources. All patients gave informed oral consent before being included in the study, which was performed according to the Declaration of Helinski.15
Parasitologic studies. We sampled the tongue and diaphragm of all pigs at Udomxay slaughterhouse on 18 June, from a pig being slaughtered at home in Konoy village, and locally prepared pork-based food samples at the markets on 17–18 June. Samples were kept in ethanol (70%) and were analyzed after compression between two glass slides. Parasitic DNA were extracted before amplification and sequencing of the 5S rDNA intergenic spacer region as previously described.16 Confirmation was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the Rome International Reference Center (code ISS 1620).
Data management and analysis. Data were processed using Epidata (www.epidata.dk, Odense, Denmark) and Stata, version 8 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX). An epidemic curve was established using data from the hospital study. Attack rates (ARs) were calculated among subgroups participating in the same ceremony (funeral, wedding party) or those who ate in the same restaurant (market, road). We estimated the total number of cases using ARs, the number of participants at a ceremony, or the number of people sharing the same meal. This estimate was compared with hospital outpatient data based from June 2005 to May 2006.
We used the Fisher exact test for categorical variables and Student t-test for normally distributed continuous variables. We considered P < 0.05 to be significant.
| RESULTS |
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Hospital study.
Before 15 June 2005, 64 patients were seen with suspected trichinellosis and 14 were hospitalized, including 1 patient with self-terminating atrial fibrillation who left the hospital before the study. During the study, 304 hospital in- and outpatients with probable trichinellosis were identified, of whom we interviewed 138 patients (Table 1
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We also traced 151 nonparticipants (ill and not ill) in these ceremonies who bought pork meat from the Nongmengda and Nongleng Udomxay markets (Table 2
).
Other ceremonies were responsible for minor outbreaks in Udomxay on 1 June (3 cases), 5 June (42 cases), 12 June (18 cases), and 14 June (1 case) (Table 2
). Outside Udomxay, 13 road workers probably contracted trichinellosis from pork sold by mobile traders on the 14 June, 24 km northeast of Udomxay.
Overall, the diagnosis of trichinellosis was confirmed for 90 cases, was probable for 48 cases, and was suspected for 300 cases during the study.
Pig study. Pork was eaten as "lapmou," "sommou," or barbecued. "Lapmou" is made from chopped pork mixed with fish sauce, lemon juice, roasted rice powder, finely cut red onion, and parsley. It is eaten raw or lightly cooked. "Sommou" is made of chopped pork mixed with salt, garlic, and chili and tightly wrapped in a banana leaf and eaten after a few days of fermentation. It is preferably eaten raw but occasionally cooked before consumption. These delicacies were consumed during the ceremonies and were sold by small shops. By the end of study, neither "sommou" nor pork was available in Udomxay markets.
There is one slaughterhouse in Udomxay that processes 5–10 locally produced pigs per day. There is no specific meat inspection for Trichinella. Pigs are also slaughtered at home without veterinary control. Pork is sold at the two main Udomxay markets (Nonleng, Nongmenda) or through mobile vendors. The number of pigs killed at the slaughterhouse of Udomxay decreased to less than three per day at the time of the study.
The animal studies were consistent with multiple sources of contaminated meat in Udomxay and surrounding villages. We traced the history of 17 pigs, consumed during the main ceremonies, which were suspected to have Trichinella infection. For the wedding, two pigs came from Muang Koua (80 km from Konoy). We confirmed that no suspected trichinellosis (except participants to the wedding) was reported in Muang Koua, suggesting that this town was not a potential source. Other pigs were bought in Udomxay or surrounding villages (Ban Tiao, Ban Konoy). We analyzed 11 samples of pork weighing between 4 and 25 g (8 from surrounding villages and Udomxay markets and 3 from an Udomxay slaughterhouse). They were not related to the outbreak. Only one sample from the Udomxay slaughterhouse was positive for Trichinella (380 larvae/g). These larvae were identified as T. spiralis by PCR.
| DISCUSSION |
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The outbreak was much larger than initially thought and overwhelmed Udomxay Hospital, which was not ready to receive so many patients. Albendazole stocks were quickly exhausted. The village survey suggested that the use of the health system was low during the first 3 weeks of the outbreaks, and patients missed the opportunity for effective treatment.21 Investigation was difficult because of the large number of patients, limited resources, transport of pigs over moderate distance, and multiple parties and ceremonies. By the end of the outbreak, the local health authorities and the population dramatically reduced pork consumption for 3 months, and no pork was available at the market. However, when people started to eat pork again, 40 new cases of suspected trichinellosis occurred in September and October 2005.
Trichinellosis can be controlled by preventing parasite transmission at the farm level and by correctly applying standard control procedures at the slaughterhouse.3 This outbreak emphasizes the need for further education and better animal control and showed the fragility of a health system facing a severe food-borne outbreak. Trichinella-specific meat inspection in slaughterhouses is urgently required. Food education and meat inspection has been proven effective in nearby Yunnan, with a reduction in raw meat consumption from 73% to 47%.22
Trichinella spiralis was identified for the first time from Laos. The pathogenicity of this species, the etiologic agent of most human infections and deaths globally, is higher than that of other Trichinella species because of the larger number of larvae produced by females and the stronger immune reaction induced in humans relative to other species.23 However, only one Lao patient developed severe disease, and no deaths from suspected trichinellosis were reported between June 2005 and May 2006. The mortality in northern Thailand and Yunnan was 0.1–0.9%.11 A possible explanation for the apparent relatively low morbidity and absence of mortality in this Lao outbreak could be the use of excessive alcohol during ceremonies and some partial cooking of the pork dishes. Alcohol consumption in experimental rats suppressed initial interferon-
secretion and inflammatory response and may have directly or indirectly led to an enhancement of the secretion of T-helper type 2-type cytokines later in the primary immune response to T. spiralis infection.24,25 Because participants could not recall the amount of alcohol consumed, we were unable to study this possibility further. The type of meals consumed and the larval density in meat may also influence pathogenicity.1 The density of larvae in northern Thai pigs ranged from 1 to 800/g of pork.1
Studies in Thailand have reported Trichinella infections in many animal species in addition to domestic pigs, such as wild boar, black bears, jackals, squirrels, rats, lizards, and turtles. We did not study other possible sources of Trichinella, but the epidemiology of the outbreaks strongly suggests that domestic pigs were the source. The prevalence of Trichinella in rats, which are abundant around pig farms, rubbish dumps, and slaughterhouse, should also be surveyed, because elsewhere they are the most widespread species found to be infected with T. spiralis.4 In Laos, pigs frequently roam free and could consume infected rodents and other dead vertebrates and discarded meat. The geographic variation in the prevalence of swine Trichinella infection in Laos is unknown, but this study suggested it to be high in parts of northwest Laos. Our study documented a large outbreak of trichinellosis in northwest Laos, suggesting a high endemicity of this parasitic disease, and highlighted the public health impact and necessity for veterinary control measures and consumer education.
Received June 6, 2007. Accepted for publication September 21, 2007.
Acknowledgments: The authors thank the staff of Oudamxay Provincial Health and Veterinarian Department: Bouchanh Sengsioulivanh, Kampan Sennavong, Chanseng Phanthouanmat, Moya Yang Soyoth, NCRT staff, and IFMT staff. The authors thank Bounthaphany Bounxouei (Mahosot Hospital), Nadia Grégoire-Delanos (NCRT), Edouardo Pozio (Trichinella International Reference Center, Rome), Rattanaphone Phetsouvanh, and Stuart Blacksell (Wellcome Trust-Mahosot Hospital-Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Collaboration) for useful information and advice. The authors thank Wanpen Chaicumpa, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Thammasat University, Bangkok, for performing the initial sample essays. We gratefully thank the authorities of the Provincial Department of Health, Provincial Epidemiology Centre, and the Provincial Hospital, as well as the population of the involved villages.
Financial support: This study was funded by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and Coopération pour la Recherche Universitaire et Scientifique (CORUS Project 02-811-052), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France. PN is supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK).
* Address correspondence to Hubert Barennes, BP 9519, Vientiane, France. E-mail: Hubert.barennes{at}auf.org ![]()
Authors addresses: Hubert Barennes, Sitthivone Hongsakhone, Phengta Vongphrachanh, Bertrand Martinez-Aussel, and Michel Strobel, Michel.strobel{at}auf.org., Institut Francophone pour la Médecine Tropicale, IFMT BP 9519, Vientiane Lao PDR, Telephone: 856-21-21-93-46, Fax: 856-21-21-93-47, E-mails: hubert.barennes{at}auf.org, bma3008{at}gmail.com, and Michel.strobel{at}auf.org. Somphou Sayasone and Peter Odermatt, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland, E-mails: somphou.sayasone{at}unibas.ch and peter.odermatt{at}unibas.ch. Aymeric Debruyne and Jean Dupouy-Camet, Hôpital Cochin /Université R. Descartes 27 Fbrg St Jacques, 75014, Paris, France, Phone: 33 1 584 12 251, Fax: 33 1 584 12 245, E-mails: a.debruyne{at}biorance.com and jean.dupouy-camet{at}cch.ap-hopparis.fr. Paul Newton, Mahosot Hospital, Wellcome Trust Collaboration, Laboratory Unit, Vientiane Lao PDR, Phone: 856-20-47188, E-mail: paul{at}tropmedres.ac.
Reprint requests: Hubert Barennes, Institut Francophone pour la Médecine Tropicale, BP 9519, Vientiane Lao PDR, Telephone: 856-21-21-93-46, Fax: 856-21-21-93047, E-mail: hubert.barennes{at}auf.org and barenneshub{at}yahoo.fr.
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