Background: The aim of this study was to conduct a seroprevalence survey in Meshkin-Shahr, Ardabil Province, north western Iran to detect the rate of human fascioliasis in the city and nearby villages. Literature shows that no such study has been conducted so far.
Methods: Overall, 458 serum samples were collected by randomized cluster sam-pling method from 153 males and 305 females referred to different health centers of the region after recalling by staff in those centers in 2012. All cases filled out a questionnaire and an informed consent. Sera were analyzed using indirect-ELISA test. Ten μg /ml antigens (Liver Fluke Homogenate), serum dilutions of 1:500 and conjugate anti-human coombs with 1:10000 dilutions were utilized to perform the test. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software ver. 18.
Results: Nine cases (1.96%) were positive for fascioliasis by ELISA test. The sero-prevalence of fascioliasis among females was 1.63% and 2.6% in males. There was no significant difference as regards age groups, sex, job, residency, literacy and con-suming row vegetable. According to job, unemployment subjects had the highest rate of infection as 5.9%. The seroprevalence of infection was 1.52% in illiterate people. As for residency, urban life showed no significant difference with rural life (2.4% vs. 1.42). Age group of 40-49 yr old, with 3.3% seropositivity had the highest rate.
Conclusion: Obtained seroprevalence of fascioliasis shows immediate attention of health authorities to the diseases in the area. The adjacent of Ardabil Province to endemic areas of fasciolosis accentuates this attention.