Seroepidemiological survey of human hydatidosis using Dot- ELISA in Ilam Province (Western part of Iran)

The present study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of human hydatidosis in Ilam Province using Dot- ELISA techniques. Three thousands sera, collected from different cities of Ilam Province in the west of Iran were examined. The serum dilution of 1:400 was selected as the cut off and the results were confirmed by the ELISA technique. Results indicated that, totally 37 individuals (1.2%) show positive sera. There were significant differences among various age groups of infected individuals. The most percentage of infection was found to be in the 20-30 age group. Among the sera tested, 0.56%, 1.57%, 10.77% were found to be positive in individuals living in cities, villages and migratory tribes respectively. Twenty two individuals of the infected people (1.47%) were female and 15 individuals (1%) were male. Most infected individuals were found to be in Mehran city (3.11%) and less infected individuals were found to be in Ilam city (0.79%). Most of the people living in migratory tribes were sheep keepers and were actually involved in animal production, wich can be regarded as a risk factor for their higher infection rate.