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Table 5
Efficacy of routine and detailed meat inspection in detecting T. saginata cysticercosis
% Detection
Country Meat inspection References
Routine Detailed
Kenya 2 0 8 5 C h e r u i y o t & O n y a n g o - A b u j e ( 1 9 8 4 )
3 8 .3 7 5 W a l t h e r & K o s k e (1 9 8 0 )
Senegal 0 .6 - 1 .4 5 .9 -1 5 .7 SC H A N D EV Y L & V E R C R U Y SSE (1 9 8 2 )
Nigeria 0 .3 -0 .8 1 .9 -4 D a d a (1 9 8 0 )
Belgium 0 .2 9 .5 G e e r t s et al. ( 1 9 8 0 )
Germany 0 .8 1 1 .4 H ö r c h n e r ( 1 9 8 3 )
The Netherlands 2 9 .5 V a n K n a p e n et at. (1 9 8 1 )
more recent figures, however, confirm that the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex
is a real problem in some countries. Prevalences of taeniasis of 7.3. and 3.2%
are reported respectively for some regions of Cameroon and Ethiopia (R ipert
et al. 1983; Mamo & A ssefa 1989), whereas figures of only 1.3 to 1.6%
are mentioned in some hyperendemic regions in Latin America (C ruz et at.
1989; D iaz C am acho et al. 1991). Fain & M u sa fili (1982) describe the
situation in Rwanda as follows : «Le ténia est le ver le plus répandu au
Rwanda. Sa prévalence exacte est difficile à évaluer mais il est probable que
chaque habitant du Rwanda contracte ce ver au moins une fois au cours
de sa vie». The available figures in relation to T. solium cysticercosis in man
are given in Table 4. They prove that human cysticercosis is not negligible
in Africa. Recently two new foci were described respectively in Cameroon
and Togo (Z ou et al. 1987 ; Dumas et al. 1989). It can be anticipated that
the more surveys will be carried out in the future, the more foci will be detected.
Diagnosis of taeniasis-cysticercosis
Since only a small percentage of cattle infected with T. saginata cysticerci
is detected at the abattoir, a lot of research has been carried out to develop
serological techniques as an alternative to the current meat inspection
techniques ( G e e r t s et al. 1977). These immunodiagnostic tests, however, were
not able to identify individual animals infected with cysticerci, neither could
they distinguish animals carrying living cysts from those harbouring only dead
cysts ( G e e r t s et al. 1981 ; 1992). The latter objective was realized by two
research teams — one in Edinburgh ( H a r r i s o n et al. 1989) and one in our
laboratory in Antwerp ( B r a n d t et al. 1990 ; 1992) — independently from
each other. Using a combination of different monoclonal antibodies against