A study of the incidence of porcine taeniasis and other intestinal parasites in a rural community of South Western Nigeria.

In the course of an investigation into the incidence of porcine taeniasis among humans and and pigs which live in close contact with each other in a rural town of South-Western Nigeria, no incidence of the parasite was found. Ascaris, Strongyle (hookworm in case of humans) and Trichuris were the helminths encountered while Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba coli were the common protozoan cysts. Polyparasitism was common and a 12 year old boy had Salmonella infection concurrently with Ascaris and hookworm. Analysis of hospital records of the town for ten years (1972-81) showed only 2 cases out of 1665 patients diagnosed as positive for Taenia infection through faecal examination. Abattoir records of incidence of bovine and porcine cysticercosis in various towns of Oyo State also showed very low incidence in these animals. It is concluded that the rural town of Erua and the Oyo state in which it is locates are not endemic for porcine and bovine taeniasis.