Published Date: 2005-05-06 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Cysticercosis - South Africa (Eastern Cape)
Archive Number: 20050506.1254
CYSTICERCOSIS - SOUTH AFRICA (EASTERN CAPE)
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed, 4 May 2005
From: A-Lan Banks <A-Lan.Banks@thomson.com>
Source: Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 4 May 2005 [edited]
<http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/newsst/newsst1115199846.aspx>
Neurocysticercosis in children in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
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7 more children from an Eastern Cape village were admitted to
hospital yesterday suffering from a brain disease that has already
killed one child. But in a breakthrough in beating the infection, the
health department in Bhisho said it had identified what was initially
a mystery illness that had caused the health scare in the Eastern
Cape.
Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the disease, neurocysticercosis,
was caused by eating infected pork. Worms in the pork penetrate the
brain, causing fits and sometimes death. The latest reports bring to
22 the number of children in Coza village who have been affected by
the disease. One child died in the village on Sunday. The children,
aged between one and 12 years, have been admitted to St Barnabas
Hospital in Libode and Mthatha General Hospital.
A team of 25 nurses and doctors were assigned on Monday to
investigate the then-[undiagnosed] disease after the children fell
sick with fits, vomiting and headaches. Tests had proved, Kupelo
said, that the children had eaten pork infested with these worms. "We
went to the village and found several pigs wandering around in
unhygienic places," he said.
One of the ways in which pigs contracted the disease was by eating
human faeces. They were then slaughtered and eaten. Worms in the pork
attacked the brain, taking between a day and a month to make the host
ill, Kupelo said.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Cysticercosis is an emerging infection; and it is becoming more and
more clear that it is very widespread and an important cause of
epilepsia in endemic countries. Further references can be found in
the ProMED posting Parasitic infection - Russia (Volga Reg) (02): comment
20030725.1820. The sanitary situation in the community -- combined with a
lack of veterinary control of pork meat for consumption -- are the main
determinants of the risk of infection, as illustrated in this report.
Cysticercosis is truly a disease of poverty.- Mod.EP]
See Also
2003----
Parasitic infection - Russia (Volga Reg) (02): comment 20030725.1820
..............ep/pg/jw
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