1. Trichuriasis in Human Patients from Côte d’Ivoire Caused by Novel Trichuris incognita Species with Low Sensitivity to Albendazole/Ivermectin Combination Treatment
- Author
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Abhinaya Venkatesan, Rebecca Chen, Max Bär, Pierre H.H. Schneeberger, Brenna Reimer, Eveline Hürlimann, Jean T. Coulibaly, Said M. Ali, Somphou Sayasone, John Soghigian, Jennifer Keiser, and John Stuart Gilleard
- Subjects
trichuriasis ,Trichuris incognita ,whipworm ,helminthiasis ,albendazole ,ivermectin ,Medicine ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
Albendazole/ivermectin combination therapy is a promising alternative to benzimidazole monotherapy alone for Trichuris trichiura control. We used fecal DNA metabarcoding to genetically characterize Trichuris spp. populations in patient samples from Côte d’Ivoire showing lower (egg reduction rate 98%). Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and ITS2 metabarcoding revealed the entire detected Côte d'Ivoire Trichuris population was phylogenetically distinct from T. trichiura found in Laos and Tanzania and was more closely related to T. suis. Mitochondrial genome sequencing of 8 adult Trichuris worms from Côte d’Ivoire confirmed their species-level differentiation. Sequences from human patients in Cameroon and Uganda and 3 captive nonhuman primates suggest this novel species, T. incognita, is distributed beyond Côte d'Ivoire and has zoonotic potential. Continued surveillance by using fecal DNA metabarcoding will be needed to determine Trichuris spp. geographic distribution and control strategies.
- Published
- 2025
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