Hüttner M, Romig T
University of Hohenheim, Department of Parasitology, Emil-Wolff-Strasse 34, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
Parasitology. 2009 Sep;136(10):1089-95. doi: 10.1017/S0031182009990461.
Cystic echinococcosis, caused by different species of the Echinococcus granulosus complex, is an important zoonotic disease with a particular impact on pastoralist societies. In addition to the widespread taxa with synanthropic transmission, a number of Echinococcus species were described from African wild carnivores early in the 20th century. For lack of study material, most of these were later tentatively synonymized with E. granulosus. Early infection experiments with wildlife isolates gave ambiguous results due to the use of unspecified parasite material, and only recently molecular methods provided the opportunity to shed light on the confusing scenery e.g. by characterizing E. felidis from the African lion. Here we will summarize the convoluted history of Echinococcus research in sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the necessity of molecular surveys to establish the life cycles and estimate the zoonotic potential of these parasites.
囊型包虫病由细粒棘球绦虫复合体的不同物种引起，是一种重要的人畜共患病，对牧民社会有特殊影响。除了通过共栖传播的广泛分类群外，20世纪初还从非洲野生食肉动物中描述了一些棘球绦虫物种。由于缺乏研究材料，其中大多数后来被暂时同义化为细粒棘球绦虫。早期对野生动物分离株的感染实验由于使用了未明确的寄生虫材料而得出了模糊的结果，直到最近分子方法才提供了揭示这一混乱局面的机会，例如通过对非洲狮的费氏棘球绦虫进行特征描述。在这里，我们将总结撒哈拉以南非洲棘球绦虫研究的复杂历史，并强调进行分子调查以确定这些寄生虫的生命周期和评估其人畜共患病潜力的必要性。
