Family outbreak caused by the nematode Trichostrongylus colubriformis in a rural area of the province of Valdivia: a rare occurrence zoonoses

Abstract

Trichostrongylosis is a rare occurrence zoonosis caused by intestinal nematodes, favored by the consumption of raw vegetables or water contaminated with infective larvae of Trichostrongylus spp. In 2015, a family outbreak of foodborne disease was registered in a rural zone of Valdivia, affecting to 51-year-old woman and her 56-year-old partner and her 12-year-old daughter. Only the adult woman, the index case, presented symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, asthenia, and nausea. The patients revealed Trichostrongylidae gen. sp. eggs in their stools, identifying Trichostrongylus colubriformis adults in two of them. They had a good response to treatment with albendazol. In Chile, 0.1 to 3.5% prevalence of infection has been reported, including a total of 93 cases recorded between the provinces of Concepción and Llanquihue.