During a stratified cross-sectional survey, 1705 pigs were sampled from 279 randomly selected households, 63 randomly selected communities and villages, from four study areas in The Gambia and Senegal during the period October 2007 to January 2008. Porcine cysticercosis prevalence detected by tongue inspection at animal level per study area ranged from 0.1% to 1.0%. Using an antigen-detection ELISA the seroprevalence of cysticercosis at both community/village and animal levels for the four selected study areas is: Western region 80.0% (95%CI: 52.4%–93.6%) and 4.8% (95%CI: 3.4%–6.5%), Bignona 86.7% (95%CI: 59.8%–96.6%) and 8.9% (95%CI: 5.0%–15.5%), Kolda 82.4% (95%CI: 46.8%–96.1%) and 13.2% (95%CI: 10.8%–16.0%), and Ziguinchor 81.3% (95%CI: 43.5%–96.1%) and 6.4% (95%CI: 4.0%–10.1%), respectively. No risk factors for cysticercosis were found significant in this study. This study proved that porcine cysticercosis is endemic and distributed widely in the study areas though its incidence might be suppressed by the generalised use of toilets and latrines in the study areas. 1. Introduction Porcine cysticercosis caused by the larval form (cysticercus or metacestode) of Taenia solium is a parasitic disease of both economic and public health importance. Although rarely associated with clinical symptoms [1], porcine cysticercosis causes great economic losses due to the disposal or the processing of infected carcasses. In Mexico, the disease causes a loss of more than half the national investment in swine production and an annual economic loss of US$ 164 million in Latin America [2]. In the same country, it was also reported that cysticercosis caused pig production losses of US $43 million in 1980 [3]. Annual losses due to porcine cysticercosis in 10 West and Central African countries are estimated at 25 million Euros [4]. All these figures are gross estimates, and more research is necessary to calculate the real economic cost of porcine cysticercosis. The public health importance of T. solium is linked to the fact that humans are the definitive hosts of the parasite, but more importantly they may develop neurocysticercosis by the accidental ingestion of the tapeworm eggs. Neurocysticercosis, which is one of the major causes of epilepsy in developing countries [1], is a neglected disease, and its prevalence is largely underestimated [5]. There is limited information on the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in The Gambia and Senegal. It has not been reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) by both countries from 1996 to 2009 [6], and published
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