The Areas of Echinococcosis From the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Extend to Yunnan: An Observation of Deworming and Control Integrated Impact Evaluation on Dogs

TL;DR

This study shows that comprehensive deworming and control measures in dogs can significantly reduce the spread of echinococcosis in Yunnan, China.

Contribution

The study evaluates the effectiveness of integrated deworming and prevention strategies in reducing echinococcosis in dogs and human behavior in a low-prevalence area.

Findings

The Echinococcus antigen positive rate decreased by 38.41% in the intervention group compared to baseline.

Comprehensive measures like dog registration and health promotion improved knowledge awareness by 30.57%.

Behavioral changes in people, such as handwashing and avoiding raw water, improved compared to baseline.

Abstract

Background:
Echinococcus granulosus is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the larval stage of the parasite Echinococcus, which has a long incubation period, expensive diagnosis and treatment, and long duration of medication, so it brings a great economic burden to patients and their families. Shangri-La City is one of the counties with a high prevalence of echinococcosis in Yunnan Province. The antigen-positive rate of Echinococcus feces is high and there is a potential risk of infecting people. Evaluation of comprehensive prevention and control intervention and different frequencies of dewormed dogs (EC-DD) are crucial.

Methods: From 2022 to 2023, Jiefang, Nishi, and Jidi villages in Jiantang Town of Shangri-La City were selected as the intervention group (TIG) and Hongpo Village as the control group (TCG) for EC-DD. TIG took comprehensive intervention measures such as registration management of domestic dogs (RMDD), single tying of dogs alone (STDA), deworming of registered domestic dogs (DRDD), standardized disposal of feces after deworming (SDFD), and population health promotion and intervention (PHPI), while TCG did not do any prevention and control intervention.

Results: The evaluation survey results show that the positive rate of Echinococcus antigen (PREA) of TIG decreased from 3.15% baseline to 1.94%. Compared with the baseline, it decreased 38.41%, and the PREA of TCG increased from 1.88% baseline to 4.17%. Compared with the baseline, it increased 56.35%. The knowledge awareness rate (TKAR) was increased from 56.56% baseline to 81.46%. Compared with the baseline, it increased by 30.57%. In the survey of dog keeping, the evaluation values of STDA, DRDD, SDFD, and the practice of not feeding dogs the diseased organs of animals were higher than the baseline values. In the survey of people's behavior habits, the evaluation values of people regularly washing hands, not drinking raw water, and not burning cow dung at home also improved compared with the baseline value.

Conclusions: In areas with low prevalence of echinococcosis, the village with positive dogs shall take measures for the management of RMDD, STDA, and SDFD and perform deworming four times a year. In addition to these, the comprehensive prevention and control measures combined with PHPI can effectively control the PREA.

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