Not only Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, but also Taenia asiatica infects humans. The last species is not included in the evaluation of the specificity of the immunodiagnostic techniques for taeniasis/cysticercosis. There is currently no specific immunodiagnostic method for T. asiatica available. Therefore, due to the fact that molecular techniques (the only tool to distinguish the 3 Taenia species) are normally not employed in routine diagnostic methods, the 2 questions concerning T. asiatica (its definite geographic distribution and its ability to cause human cysticercosis), remain open, turning T. asiatica into the most neglected agent of human taeniasis-cysticercosis.
Animals ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques/methods ; Humans ; Neglected Diseases/*epidemiology/*parasitology ; Parasitology/methods ; Taenia/*isolation & purification/pathogenicity ; Taeniasis/diagnosis/*epidemiology/*parasitology

Animals ; Capillaria ; isolation & purification ; China ; epidemiology ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; veterinary ; Enoplida Infections ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; veterinary ; Humans ; Liver Diseases, Parasitic ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; veterinary ; Neglected Diseases ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; veterinary ; Parasite Egg Count ; veterinary ; Prevalence ; Rats ; Risk Assessment ; Rodent Diseases ; epidemiology ; parasitology ; Zoonoses ; epidemiology ; parasitology

Epidemiological situation of taeniasis in Mongolia was assessed based on mitochondrial DNA identification of the parasite species. Multiplex PCR was used on a total of 194 proglottid specimens of Taenia species and copro-PCR and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays were utilized for detection of copro-DNA of 37 fecal samples from taeniasis patients submitted to the Mongolian National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) from 2002 to 2012. In addition, 4 out of 44 calcified cysts in beef kept in formalin since 2003 were evaluated for histopathological confirmation of cattle cysticercosis. All proglottid specimens and stool samples were confirmed to be Taenia saginata by multiplex PCR and by copro-PCR and LAMP, respectively. Cysts collected from cattle were morphologically confirmed to be metacestodes of Taenia species. T. saginata taeniasis was identified from almost all ages from a 2-year-old boy up to a 88-year-old woman and most prominently in 15-29 age group (37%, 74/198) followed by 30-44 age group (34.8%, 69/198 ) from 15 of Mongolia's 21 provinces, while cattle cysticerci were found from 12 provinces. The highest proportion of taeniasis patients was in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Cattle/parasitology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cysticercosis/*epidemiology/parasitology ; DNA, Helminth/*genetics ; DNA, Mitochondrial/*genetics ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Geography ; Humans ; Male ; Meat/parasitology ; Middle Aged ; Mitochondria/genetics ; Mongolia/epidemiology ; Neglected Diseases/epidemiology ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/veterinary ; Questionnaires ; Taenia saginata/*genetics ; Taenia solium/genetics ; Taeniasis/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Young Adult