Sylvatic echinococcosis in Argentina. I. On the morphology and biology of strobilar Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786) from domestic and sylvatic animal hosts.

Dogs were fed larvae of Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786) recovered from sheep in Argentina. The morphological characteristics of strobilae recovered from dogs at 28, 60 and 76 days postexposure were compared with those of Echinococcus spp. recovered from naturally infected foxes, Dusicyon clupaeus (Molina) and D. griseus (Gray), and those of worms reared in dogs from larvae in European hares, Lepus europaeus (L.). Only slight differences were observed in characters of taxonomic importance and it was concluded that all cestodes represented a single species, E. granulosus. The results are discussed as they bear on the speciation controversy and the potential epidemiology importance of Dusicyon spp. as hosts of E. granulosus. It was suggested that E. patagonicus Szidat, 1960 previously described from D. culpaeus is conspecific with E. granulosus. E. cepanzoi Szidat, 1971 is probably also a synonym of E. granulosus and the subspecies E. g. dusicyontis Blood and Lelijveld, 1969, is rejected on the grounds that there is no evidence for host specificity and ecological or other segregation from the nominate form. Foxes appear to become infected from scavenging on dead sheep in localities where E. granulosus is endemic in domestic animals. There is still no evidence that E. granulosus is maintained in Argentina in sylvatic cycles.