Settlement characteristics and transmission of echinococcosis: a cross-sectional study in nomadic communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China.

IF 5.5 1区医学

Infectious Diseases of Poverty Pub Date : 2025-06-12 DOI:10.1186/s40249-025-01316-6

Qian Wang, Yifei Wang, Zhaohui Luo, Sha Liao, Wenjie Yu, Guangjia Zhang, Liu Yang, Wei He, Zhongshuang Zhang, Diming Cai, Jun Liu, Guo Zhou, Yongzhong Li, Yan Huang, Ruirui Li, Qi Wang, Renxin Yao, Quzhen Gongsang

{"title":"Settlement characteristics and transmission of echinococcosis: a cross-sectional study in nomadic communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China.","authors":"Qian Wang, Yifei Wang, Zhaohui Luo, Sha Liao, Wenjie Yu, Guangjia Zhang, Liu Yang, Wei He, Zhongshuang Zhang, Diming Cai, Jun Liu, Guo Zhou, Yongzhong Li, Yan Huang, Ruirui Li, Qi Wang, Renxin Yao, Quzhen Gongsang","doi":"10.1186/s40249-025-01316-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Echinococcosis remains highly endemic in some nomadic communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, where alveolar echinococcosis (AE) and cystic echinococcosis (CE) exhibit notably high prevalence rates of 3.64% and 2.37%, respectively. Recent settlement expansion in the region has raised concerns, as smaller, remote settlements often lacked waste disposal and sewage systems, potentially facilitating echinococcosis transmission. The aim of this study is to investigate how settlement characteristics influence echinococcosis transmission.Findings: The study was conducted from 2022-2024 in nomadic communities of Shiqu County in China. The overall prevalence rate of echinococcosis in 51 settlements was found to be 2.34% (321/13,701; 95% CI: 2.10-2.61), which included a prevalence rate of 1.62% (222/13,701; 95% CI: 1.42-1.85) for AE and a prevalence rate of 0.72% (99/13,701; 95% CI: 0.59-0.88) for CE. The prevalence rate of AE was significantly (χ2 = 49.57, P < 0.01) higher than that of CE. Settlements with a smaller population size (Z = -4.27, P < 0.01), a greater distance to the township center (Z = 2.66, P < 0.01) and a higher density of owned dogs (Z = 5.90, P < 0.01) were associated with higher prevalence rates of CE. These associations were also observed for AE prevalence, except for the density of owned dogs.Conclusions: This study indicates that the transmission of AE was more active than that of CE in the nomadic communities. Smaller, remote settlements had higher prevalence rates for both CE and AE. The density of owned dogs was a significant risk factor for CE prevalence but not for AE prevalence. Targeted interventions are needed in these high-risk settlements. Future research should investigate how settlement characteristics interact with hygiene practices, the infection status of intermediate and definitive hosts, and their population dynamics to better understand combined effects on echinococcosis prevalence.","PeriodicalId":48820,"journal":{"name":"Infectious Diseases of Poverty","volume":"14 1","pages":"47"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12160359/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Infectious Diseases of Poverty","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40249-025-01316-6","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Echinococcosis remains highly endemic in some nomadic communities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China, where alveolar echinococcosis (AE) and cystic echinococcosis (CE) exhibit notably high prevalence rates of 3.64% and 2.37%, respectively. Recent settlement expansion in the region has raised concerns, as smaller, remote settlements often lacked waste disposal and sewage systems, potentially facilitating echinococcosis transmission. The aim of this study is to investigate how settlement characteristics influence echinococcosis transmission.

Findings: The study was conducted from 2022-2024 in nomadic communities of Shiqu County in China. The overall prevalence rate of echinococcosis in 51 settlements was found to be 2.34% (321/13,701; 95% CI: 2.10-2.61), which included a prevalence rate of 1.62% (222/13,701; 95% CI: 1.42-1.85) for AE and a prevalence rate of 0.72% (99/13,701; 95% CI: 0.59-0.88) for CE. The prevalence rate of AE was significantly (χ² = 49.57, P < 0.01) higher than that of CE. Settlements with a smaller population size (Z = -4.27, P < 0.01), a greater distance to the township center (Z = 2.66, P < 0.01) and a higher density of owned dogs (Z = 5.90, P < 0.01) were associated with higher prevalence rates of CE. These associations were also observed for AE prevalence, except for the density of owned dogs.

Conclusions: This study indicates that the transmission of AE was more active than that of CE in the nomadic communities. Smaller, remote settlements had higher prevalence rates for both CE and AE. The density of owned dogs was a significant risk factor for CE prevalence but not for AE prevalence. Targeted interventions are needed in these high-risk settlements. Future research should investigate how settlement characteristics interact with hygiene practices, the infection status of intermediate and definitive hosts, and their population dynamics to better understand combined effects on echinococcosis prevalence.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

青藏高原游牧社区棘球蚴病的传播特征与分布特征

背景：棘球蚴病在中国青藏高原部分游牧社区的流行程度较高，其中肺泡棘球蚴病（AE）和囊性棘球蚴病（CE）的患病率分别为3.64%和2.37%。最近该地区定居点的扩大引起了人们的关注，因为较小的偏远定居点往往缺乏废物处理和污水处理系统，这可能促进棘球蚴病的传播。本研究旨在探讨聚落特征对棘球蚴病传播的影响。研究结果：研究于2022-2024年在中国石渠县游牧社区进行。51个居民点棘球蚴病总患病率为2.34% (321/ 13701；95% CI: 2.10-2.61)，其中患病率为1.62% (222/ 13701；AE的95% CI: 1.42-1.85)，患病率为0.72% (99/13,701；95% CI: 0.59-0.88)。结论：该研究表明，游牧社区AE传播比CE传播更为活跃。较小的、偏远的定居点有较高的CE和AE患病率。养狗密度是CE患病率的显著危险因素，而不是AE患病率的显著危险因素。在这些高风险住区需要有针对性的干预措施。未来的研究应进一步探讨住区特征与卫生习惯、中间宿主和最终宿主的感染状况及其种群动态的相互作用，以更好地了解这些因素对棘球蚴病流行的综合影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Infectious Diseases of Poverty INFECTIOUS DISEASES-

自引率

1.20%

发文量

368

期刊介绍： Infectious Diseases of Poverty is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on addressing essential public health questions related to infectious diseases of poverty. The journal covers a wide range of topics including the biology of pathogens and vectors, diagnosis and detection, treatment and case management, epidemiology and modeling, zoonotic hosts and animal reservoirs, control strategies and implementation, new technologies and application. It also considers the transdisciplinary or multisectoral effects on health systems, ecohealth, environmental management, and innovative technology. The journal aims to identify and assess research and information gaps that hinder progress towards new interventions for public health problems in the developing world. Additionally, it provides a platform for discussing these issues to advance research and evidence building for improved public health interventions in poor settings.