Echinococcus granulosus exhibits substantial genetic diversity that has important implications for the design and development of vaccines, diagnostic reagents and drugs effective against this parasite. DNA approaches that have been used for accurate identification of these genetic variants are presented here as is a description of their application in molecular epidemiological surveys of cystic...

Echinococcosis is a neglected zoonotic disease affecting over 1 million people worldwide at any given time. It is the leading cause of hospital admissions for parasitic diseases in Chile. We conducted a retrospective investigation of hospitalized cases to describe the epidemiological trends of echinococcosis in Chile. We also examined the potential environmental risk factors for echinococcosis ...

Human echinococcosis is a zoonotic infection caused by larval forms (metacestodes) of tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus. Among the recognised species, Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis are of considerable medical importance, causing cystic and alveolar echinococcosis (AE and CE), respectively. The factors of immunology, host-genetic inherits, and Echinococcus genetic-diversity and...

Echinococcosis, although eradicated in many countries, is still widespread in communities where agriculture is dominant. Cystic hydatidosis is a significant public health problem in the regions with endemic echinococcosis. The hydatid cysts tend to form in the liver or lung, but may also be found in other organs of the body such as brain, heart, and bone, while thyroid gland involvement is rath...

The present case report refers to a patient from the State of Rondônia, North region of Brazil, attended with clinical suspicion of hepatic echinococcosis. Examination by imaging (ultrasonography and computerized tomography) revealed a conglomerate of cystic lesions, with mobile contents within the cyst. The serology (immunoblot) for Echinococcus sp. was positive (21 and 31 kDa bands). This cas...

Infections of humans with Echinococcus multilocularis, the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a zoonosis, have been described with increasing frequency in Poland since 1994. In the attempt to verify these reports, we analyzed specimens obtained from a representative group of Polish patients. Liver lesions in patients with AE that was diagnosed on the basis of results of histologic...

1 Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America, 2 WHO Collaborating Centre for the epidemiology, detection and control of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis (in humans and animals); European Reference Laboratory for Parasites; Istituto Superiore di Sanita’, Rome, Ita...