Affiliations: Immunization Safety Office, Office of the Director,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA | Division of Parasitic Diseases, Coordinating Center
for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta,
GA, USA
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Pedro Moro, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, MS D26, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. Tel.: +1 404 639
8946; Fax: +1 404 639 8834; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Echinococcosis (hydatid disease) is the infection of humans by the
larval stages of taeniid cestodes of the genus Echinococcus. Three species of
public health importance, Echinococcus granulosus, E.
multilocularis, and E. vogeli respectively, cause cystic, alveolar and
polycystic echinococcosis respectively, and are the subject of this review.
Several studies have shown that these diseases are an increasing public health
concern and that both can be regarded as emerging or re-emerging diseases. In
this review, we discuss aspects of their biology, life cycle, etiology,
distribution, and transmission of the Echinococcus organisms, and the
epidemiology, clinical features, treatment, and effect of improved diagnosis of
the diseases they cause. New sensitive and specific diagnostic methods and
effective therapeutic approaches against echinococcosis have been developed in
the last 10 years. Despite some progress in the control of echinococcosis, this
zoonosis continues to be a major public health problem in several countries and
in several others; it constitutes an emerging and re-emerging disease.
