According to increase of travel, the cases of imported echinococcosis have been increasing in Korea. The present study was undertaken to develop a serodiagnostic system for echinococcosis in Korea. For diagnosis of echinococcosis, the fluid of Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cysts was collected from naturally infected sheep in Uzbekistan. Also serum samples of infected patients who were surgically confirmed were collected in a hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. According to the absorbance of 59 echinococcosis positive and 39 negative control serum samples, the cut-off value was determined as 0.27. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA with hydatid fluid antigen were 91.5% and 96%, respectively. The antigen cross-reacted with the serum of some cysticercosis or clonorchiasis patients. However, immunoblot analysis on the cystic fluid recognized antigenic proteins of 7-, 16-, and 24-kDa bands in their dominant protein quantity and strong blotting reactivity. In conclusion, the present ELISA system using hydatid cyst fluid antigen from Uzbekistan sheep is sensitive and specific for diagnosis of echinococcosis cases.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Animals ; Echinococcosis/blood/diagnosis/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Serologic Tests/*methods ; Sheep ; Sheep Diseases/blood/diagnosis/epidemiology/*parasitology ; Uzbekistan/epidemiology ; Young Adult

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is one of the most widespread zoonotic helminthiases, which can last an asymptomatic infection for several years. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate serum antibody prevalence of CE among asymptomatic people in Uzbekistan using ELISA. A total of 2,547 serum samples were collected, 66 from confirmed CE patients and 2,481 of patients with other diseases than CE at a hospital in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The serum samples were screened for CE specific IgG antibodies by ELISA using cystic fluid antigen obtained from sheep. The serum antibody positive rate was 89.4% (59/66) in CE and 3.6% (89/2,481) in other disease patients. The present ELISA recognized 89.4% sensitivity and 96.4% specificity. The ELISA absorbance of positive samples was distributed 0.271-0.971 for CE and 0.273-0.887 for other disease patients. The other disease patients with high absorbance over 0.3 were 50 (2.0%) who were presumed to be active CE patients. The patients in their 40s showed the highest positive rate of 5.2% (P=0.181), and women were 4.4% while men were 3.1% positive (P=0.136). The data confirmed that there are many asymptomatic patients of CE in Tashkent. It is indicated that CE is an endemic disease of public health importance in Uzbekistan.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth/*blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Echinococcosis/*blood/epidemiology/parasitology ; Echinococcus/*immunology/isolation & purification ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/*blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Uzbekistan/epidemiology ; Young Adult

Hepatic echinococcosis, also called echinococcosis, is a health-threatening disease commonly found in pasture, and belongs to parasitic zoonoses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and the risk factors of echinococcosis in Qinghai province in order to provide fundamental data for prevention and control of echinococcosis in Qinghai province. A total of 23 445 people from 21 counties were enrolled in this study by multi-stage stratified random sampling. Echinococcosis was diagnosed by using B-mode ultrasonography and serological tests. The results showed that the prevalence of echinococcosis was 4.47% (95%CI: 4.21%-4.73%) and serum positive rate (seroprevalence) was 15.47% (95%CI: 14.92%-16.02%) in 2010. The distribution of echinococcosis differed in age, sex, ethnicity, occupation and regions in Qinghai (P<0.05). GLMM analysis revealed that gender (female vs. male), ethnicity (Tibetan vs. other ethnicities), profession (herders vs. other professions) and region (autonomous prefectures vs. cities) were significant risk factors for echinococcosis (P<0.05). It was concluded that the prevalence of echinococcosis in 2010 was about 4% in Qinghai province, and the distribution of echinococcosis in Qinghai was associated with age, sex, ethnicity and profession.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth ; blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Echinococcosis, Hepatic ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; Echinococcus ; immunology ; physiology ; Epidemics ; prevention & control ; Female ; Host-Parasite Interactions ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sex Factors ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult