Trichinosis： Epidemiology in Thailand

INTRODUCTIONTrichinosis is one of the most widespread helminthic zoonoses.Unlike other parasitic infections,it has been a major public health problem and reported in many Asian countries,including China,Japan,Korea and Thailand1-7].Since1835,controversy …

Trichinosis: epidemiology in Thailand

Trichinosis is one of the most common food-borne para-sitic zoonoses in Thailand and many outbreaks are re-ported each year. This paper reviews the history, species, and epidemiology of the disease and food habits of the people with an emphasis on the north, northeast, cen-tral and south regions of Thailand. The earliest record of trichinosis in Thailand was in 1962 in the Mae Sariang District, Mae Hong Son Province. Since then, about 130 outbreaks have been reported involving 7392 patients and 97 deaths (1962-2005). The highest number of cas-es, 557, was recorded in 1983. The annual epidemiologi-cal surveillance reports of the Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, show that trichinosis cases increased from 61 in 1997 to 351 in 1998. In contrast to these figures, the number of reported cases decreased to 16 in 1999 and 128 cases in 2000. There was no record of trichinosis in 2001, but then the figures for 2002, 2003 and 2004 were 289, 126 and 212 respectively. The infected pa-tients were mostly in the 35-44 years age group and the disease occurred more frequently in men than women at a ratio of 1.7-2.0:1. There were 84 reported cases of trichinosis in Chiang Rai, Nan, Chiang Mai, Si Sa ket, Nakhon Phanom, Kalasin, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Pathom and Surat Thani, provinces locat-ed in different parts of Thailand in 2005. The outbreaks were more common in the northern areas, especially in rural areas where people ate raw or under-cooked pork and/or wild animals. This indicates the need for health education programs to prevent and control trichinosis as soon as possible in the high-risk areas.