Abstract
Background Echinococcus granulosus is usually transmitted between canid definitive hosts and ungulate intermediate hosts.Methodology/Principal FindingsLesions found in the livers of ground squirrels, Spermophilus dauricus/alashanicus, trapped in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, an area in China co-endemic for both E. granulosus and E. multilocularis, were subjected to molecular genotyping for Echinococcus spp. DNA. One of the lesions was shown to be caused by E. granulosus and subsequently by histology to contain viable protoscoleces.Conclusions/SignificanceThis is the first report of a natural infection of the ground squirrel with E. granulosus. This does not provide definitive proof of a cycle involving ground squirrels and dogs or foxes, but it is clear that there is active E. granulosus transmission occurring in this area, despite a recent past decline in the dog population in southern Ningxia.
Highlights
The canid adapted intestinal tapeworms, Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis are important zoonotic pathogens that cause serious disease in humans [1]; both are endemic to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR) in northwest China [2,3]
This does not provide definitive proof of a cycle involving ground squirrels and dogs or foxes, but it is clear that there is active E. granulosus transmission occurring in this area, despite a recent past decline in the dog population in southern Ningxia
Synanthropic transmission cycles are believed to be responsible for the high prevalence of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in Alaska and on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby domestic dogs predating on rodents in and around villages are considered to be the primary source of infection causing human AE [6,7]
Summary
The canid adapted intestinal tapeworms, Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis are important zoonotic pathogens that cause serious disease in humans [1]; both are endemic to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR) in northwest China [2,3]. E. granulosus can be transmitted through either sylvatic cycles, involving wild carnivores and ungulates; or via domestic cycles, usually involving dogs and farm livestock. E. multilocularis is primarily maintained in a sylvatic life-cycle between foxes and rodents, with human infections considered as a relatively rare accidental event caused by spill-over from the wildlife cycle in European countries [5]. Synanthropic transmission cycles are believed to be responsible for the high prevalence of human alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in Alaska and on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, whereby domestic dogs predating on rodents in and around villages are considered to be the primary source of infection causing human AE [6,7]. Work in the 1980s in NHAR indicated that the transmission modes for co-hyperendemic AE and CE involved domestic dogs/ livestock (mainly sheep) for CE and foxes/rodents for AE [10]. Echinococcus granulosus is usually transmitted between canid definitive hosts and ungulate intermediate hosts
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