Taenia solium Cysticercosis in Swine in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Taenia solium cysticercosis is one of the major zoonotic diseases in Nepal.A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Taenia spp.cysticercosis in swine.A total of 297 serum samples of pigs from three districts of the Kathmandu Valley namely Kathmandu,Lalitpur and Bhaktapur were examined for the presence of T.solium cysticercosis.Thus obtained serum samples were then tested using the B158/B60 sandwich antigen-ELISA.87 out of 297 pigs(29.3%) from all three districts of the Kathmandu valley were found positive for cysticercosis out of which 29 positive from 100samples(29%)originating from Lalitpur district,39 positive for 100 samples (39%) from Bhakapur district and 19 positive from the 97 samples (19.6%) from Kathmandu district.This study has shown a high prevalence of cysticercosis in swine.THis is likely related to the fact that the majority of pigs slaughtered in Kathmandu valley are imported from areas of low sanitation and hygiene.