Investigation of intestinal parasitism among Hispanic migrant and seasonal farm workers in eastern North Carolina

Date

2007-12-01

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

In collaboration between the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health (NCSLPH) and Dr. Maria T. Correa from the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine, the field experience focused on the development and application of accurate and rapid methods to detect and generally characterize Taenia solium in human stool samples. T. solium, the "pork tapeworm," is associated with cysticercosis in humans, is distributed worldwide, and the leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy. Approximately 90% of patients with cysticercosis develop nuerocysticercosis (NCC). NCC is endemic in most of Central and South America, and Asia. In the U.S., over 1,000 NCC cases are diagnosed each year, mostly in the immigrant population. In North Carolina, 192 cases of NCC have been diagnosed between 1995 and 2002. In initial studies, Multiplex PCR was used for the differential diagnosis of taeniasis, caused by T. saginate, T. asiatica and two genotypes of T. solium (Asian and American/African genotypes). This detection approach was evaluated on clinical (fecal) specimens submitted to NCSLPH for diagnostic purposes with the intent to expand screening to include a larger percentage of the immigrant populations.

Description

Keywords

Intestional parasitism, Migrant farm workers, Emerging public health concerns, Food safety, Health and hygiene, Foodborne parasites, Adult on-set epilepsy, NCSLPH

Graduation Month

December

Degree

Master of Public Health

Department

Public Health Interdepartmental Program

Major Professor

Daniel Y.C. Fung

Date

2007

Type

Report

Citation