Spontaneously arrested transmission of cysticercosis in a highly endemic village with a very low migration rate

Taenia solium cysticercosis is difficult to eliminate without interventions or societal development. Atahualpa is a rural Ecuadorian village with documented low migration rate, where domestic pig raising is common and human cysticercosis is endemic. To assess neurocysticercosis (NCC) prevalence, 1,273 villagers aged³ 20 years underwent neuroimaging studies, which showed calcified lesions in 121 (9.5%) individuals, but no active disease. Likewise, positive reactions, apparently nonspecific, were found in only 3/200 subjects by the use of a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect T. solium antigens in urine. Only 2/418 pigs reacted to three antibody bands on serum western blot and none to more than three bands. This is the first time that spontaneously arrested T. solium transmission is documented in a known endemic village. Understanding why active transmission stopped could provide insights on potential targets for control interventions. Atahualpa could provide an optimal scenario for longitudinal studies on the consequences of calcified NCC.