Human Pentastomiasis in Upper East Region of Ghana: Report of Two Cases

Abstract

Objective: The prevalence of human pentastomiasis in the North-Eastern and Upper East Region of Ghana is probably high since numerous incidental cases have been reported from there. This paper reports two new cases of human pentastomiasis diagnosed incidentally at a District Hospital in the Upper East Region of Ghana, discusses the diseases that the infestation cause and stresses the public health issues this infestation brings up.
Case Reports: The parasites were diagnosed incidentally in two males presenting for elective inguinal herniorrhaphy. Two encysted larvae were in the hernia sacs of two normal males, who were operated upon at the Sandema District Hospital in February 2009
during one of the annual charity surgical outreach services in that hospital. The worms were dissected out and identified morphologically as Armillifer armillatus, based on prior knowledge from our previous experience in diagnosing a case in our institution both from histopathological examination and confirmation by a medical parasitologist.
Conclusion: This curious but important zoonotic parasitic infestation should be of public health concern since the Armillifer armillatus which infests man in West Africa also infests dogs, one of man’s closest pets.