Human and Environmental Reservoirs of Intestinal Parasites in the City of Yaoundé, Cameroon: An Update in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic

Aims: Intestinal parasitic infections are persistent in Africa, and we questioned here whether prevention measures imposed by the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 could alleviate this threat in lowlands of the city of Yaoundé, Cameroon. Study Design: We monitored the trend of intestinal parasites in human and environmental samples from the seven subdivisions of the city of Yaounde, before (November-December 2019) and during (July-August 2020, November-December 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: Parasitological analysis were performed to check for the presence of helminths and protozoans in stools from inhabitants as well as in water, soil and fresh vegetables, using standard Kato Katz and Formol Ether methods.The minimum effective sample size considered for the estimation of parasite richness, parasite infection and contamination indexeswas 30 for human and 30 for environmental samples (i.e. soils, water and vegetables) per location. Results: Of the 19 parasite species identified in human and the environments, twelve were helminths and seven protozoans. The overall parasite species richness reached 16 in 2019 (12 helminths and 4 protozoans) and 19 in 2020 (12 helminths and 7 protozoans), with about 62.5-68.4% of species shared by human and environments. The parasite frequencies in human (21.03%) and water/soils (32.3%) in 2019 did not differ statistically with those of 2020 (14.6-20.3% and 10.8-35.4%, respectively). The contamination rate of vegetables (i.e. carrots, lettuce, basil, celery, etc.) has increased from 2019 (6.1-9.1%) to 2020 (9.1-24.2%), and was frequently due to roundworms, hookworms, Entamoeba and Cryptosporidium cysts. The findings suggest persistent risk associated with intestinal parasite irrespective to measures imposed by COVID-19 in study locations. Conclusion: The current control approaches may therefore integrateecological epidemiology of the intestinal parasite infections as complementary strategy in African cities.

La presence des bovins comme hotes alternatifs peut-elle modifier le comportement trophique des vecteurs du paludisme en zone de foret?

Des enquetes entomologiques longitudinales ont ete effectuees de novembre 1998 a novembre 2000 en vue de determiner le comportement trophique des anopheles en presence de bovins comme hotes alternatifs a l`homme dans deux localites de la zone de foret du sud Cameroun; Obala et Nkolbisson. Les collectes des moustiques ont eu lieu a l`interieur des habitations par pulverisation intra domiciliaire et a l`exterieur a l`aide de captures sous moustiquaire piege avec comme appats l`homme et le veau. L`origine du repas de sang et l`infectivite des moustiques ont ete identifiees par la technique ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Asay). Au total; 992 anopheles appartenant a 8 especes ont ete collectees au cours de cette etude. An. funestus etait l`espece la plus abondante a Obala tandis qu`An. nili predominait a Nkolbisson. Le taux d`anthropophilie etait plus eleve chez les moustiques collectes a l`interieur des habitations que chez ceux collectes a l`exterieur sous moustiquaire piege. An. gambiae et An. funestus ont montre une nette preference pour l`homme tandis qu`An. nili a pique indifferemment l`homme et le boeuf. An. gambiae etait de loin le vecteur principal dans les deux sites d`etude avec 24 cas d`infections sur les 42 trouves. Ces resultats montrent que les vecteurs en zone de foret peuvent diversifier la source de leur repas de sang en presence d`hotes alternatifs tels que les bovins. Toutefois; il serait important de comprendre si l`introduction de l`elevage de bovins dans cette region pourrait influencer le cycle de transmission du paludisme

Epidemiological Importance of the Anopheles Nili Group of Malaria Vectors in Equatorial Villages of Cameroon; Central Africa

From March 1999 to March 2007; entomological surveys were conducted in eight riverside locations of the equatorial domain in Cameroon; to assess the contribution of Anopheles nili group to malaria transmission. Results showed that the anthropophilic Anopheles nili; Anopheles carnevalei and Anopheles ovengensis were involved in 5-68of the Plasmodium falciparum entomological inoculation rates (EIRs) in all the study sites. Alongside; vectors such as Anopheles Gambiae; Anopheles moucheti; Anopheles funestus; Anopheles marshallii and Anopheles hancocki also took a substantial part to these transmission rates in sympatric conditions. Anopheles nili s.s. was the major vector in villages situated near the Sanaga river; with more than 100 infective bites/person/year. Its true Plasmodium falciparum infections rates ranged from 1.4to 6.1. Anopheles carnevalei and Anopheles ovengensis were mainly distributed in the equatorial cross-bordering areas; where they contributed for less than 30of the Plasmodium falciparum EIRs in villages located along the Nten river and Congo river networks. These findings confirm Anopheles nili s.s. as a major malaria vector mosquito; and also provided more data regarding the epidemiological role of Anopheles carnevalei and Anopheles ovengensis througout the central African region