Tunga penetrans (Insecta: Siphonaptera) in pigs in São Tomé (Equatorial Africa): Epidemiological, clinical, morphological and histopathological aspects

Abstract

The island of São Tomé, a former Portuguese colony, located in the Gulf of Guinea, is nowadays part of an independent republic, the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. A survey carried out by the authors on swine slaughtered at the public slaughterhouse of the capital has ascertained that 28 subjects out of 100 examined were affected by lesions associated with Tunga penetrans (Insecta: Siphonaptera) localized particularly in the legs, snout and udders. In the latter the presence of fleas inside the tissues of the teats caused heavy economic damage due to inability to nurse the sucking-pigs, resulting in the death of whole litters. Human cases were frequently reported on the island posing a real public health problem. One of the authors, too, was affected by the parasite. It can be assumed that swine act as a reservoir of chigoes in São Tomé, as was observed in many villages of Latin America. Photographic records of the clinical and histological aspects of the lesions and of the morphology of the parasite are presented.