Abstract
Cystic echinococcosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus is a major zoonosis of public health significance in the Patagonian region of Argentina. This investigation sought to test the hypothesis that the persistence and dispersion of the parasite eggs can be explained by physical and meteorological parameters along with final host infection and behaviour. This observational study was carried out over a five-year period within an enclosure where two dogs harbouring a worm burden ranging from 100 to 1000 mature adult E. granulosus, as well as two uninfected dogs, had previously been kept for six months. Environmental canine faeces, topsoil, pond water, and sediment samples were examined to control for the presence of eggs and coproantigens of the parasite using microscope-based techniques and copro-ELISA plus copro-Western Blot tests. The parasite eggs were detected up to 41 months later in faeces from infected dogs, soil and sediment, and coproantigen tests remained positive for up to 70 months in faeces. Overall, parasite eggs were found within a maximum distance of 115 m from the contaminated dog faeces deposition site. Our findings indicate that under Patagonian environmental conditions, egg persistence and dispersion seem to be related to the worm burden and habits of the infected dog, to prevailing wind direction and to the existence of low bushes as well as natural bodies of water. The present study is the first to provide direct evidence of interaction between bioclimatic conditions and E. granulosus egg dispersion under Patagonian field conditions.
Highlights
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic zoonosis caused by the Echinococcus granulosus cestode with intermediate and final hosts
This study provides insights into the dispersion of E. granulosus eggs under natural field conditions in Patagonia, showing that parasite eggs were found within a maximum distance of 115 m from the deposition site over the course of 41 months
Up to now the models used to determine the dispersion of Taeniidae eggs in the environment have mainly used Taenia hydatigena, T. saginata, T. pisiformis and E. multilocularis (Atkinson et al, 2013)
Summary
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a parasitic zoonosis caused by the Echinococcus granulosus cestode with intermediate (sheep and other domestic livestock, omnivores and lagomorphs) and final (carnivores, usually dogs) hosts. Most studies modelling Echinococcus spp. transmission have focused on determining the influence of environmental parameters on the risk of infection with E. multilocularis, causal agent of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) (Veit et al, 1995; Giraudoux et al, 2003, 2013; Danson et al, 2004; Guislain et al, 2007, 2008; Burlet et al, 2011) Based on these studies, Atkinson et al (2013) proposed that the transmission of echinococcosis could be influenced by climate change and anthropogenic factors through changes in animal population dynamics, spatial overlap of competent hosts, and the creation of favourable weather conditions for egg survival and dispersion. We carried out this study to add evidence about E. granulosus egg occurrence under Patagonian environmental conditions with the aim of testing the hypothesis that in this region the persistence and dispersion of the parasite eggs can be explained by parameters such as landscape attributes, meteorological conditions and dog infection behaviour, and worm burden status
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