Intestinal Parasite Infections in the Human and Mountain Gorilla Populations of the Virunga Volcanoes Region Público
Raj, Suraja (2013)
Abstract
Urbanization and migration can create stresses on population health and on the ecosystem. Habitat encroachment can cause increased contact and competition between animals and humans. In Rwanda, the endangered mountain gorillas (Gorilla berengei berengei) live in a habitat bordered by an extremely dense human population. Bisate is one community nearest the Volcanoes National Park and gorilla reserve. This population of about 20,000 rural agriculturists has limited access to education, healthcare, opportunities for economic development and basic services such as roads, electricity and potable water. Living in close proximity, humans and gorillas have frequent contact through humans entering the park to collect spring water and gorillas leaving the park to forage in agricultural fields. This contact poses a potential threat for transmission of zoonoses and also of human pathogens to the gorilla population. Five rounds of cross-sectional microbiological data on intestinal parasites (protozoa and helminthes) in almost 5,000 human stool samples were collected in Bisate between 2002 and 2011 through The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International's mass chemotherapy program. Microbiological data on 400 gorilla stool samples was collected through a 2010 census of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes region. Overall, parasitic infections decreased in the human population from over 91.8% to 52% during the study time frame. Soil-transmitted helminths were the most common parasites detected in the human samples. Age and administrative sector were associated with increased odds of parasitism and sex was associated with increased odds of infection by multiple parasites. Habituation and residence in DRC and Uganda were found to be associated with decreased odds of polyparasitism in gorillas. We qualitatively compared the number and types of parasite species detected in humans and gorillas in Rwanda and found that both populations were infected with Ascaris, Trichuris, Trichostrongylus and Hookworm. Monitoring of infectious disease in both human and gorilla populations and implementation of programs to improve health and limit human-gorilla contact, are critical for both wildlife conservation and public health in this area of Rwanda.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1
The Global Burden from Gastrointestinal Parasites 1
Environmental Considerations & Risk Factors 5
Treatment and Prevention 9
Rwanda as a Unique Case in Gastrointestinal Parasitism 11
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RATIONALE 17
Study Objective 17
Specific Aims 17
Rationale 17
CHAPTER 3: MANUSCRIPT 19
Contribution of Student 19
Introduction 20
Global Burden and Risk Factors 20
Rwanda 22
Methods 26
Ethics Statement 26
Data Source 26
Study Site 26
Study Population 27
Data Collection 28
Data Management 31
Statistical Analysis 33
Assumptions 35
Results 37
Discussion 53
Parasitic Infections in the Bisate Area 53
Parasitic Infections in Virunga Mountain Gorillas 55
Parasite Infection Comparison Between Humans and Mountain Gorillas
58
Strengths & Limitations 59
Conclusions 64
CHAPTER 4: LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS 65
REFERENCES 68
APPENDIX: SUPPLEMENTAL TABLES 72
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