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
About this Master's Thesis
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