The first detection of Echinococcus multilocularis in slaughtered pigs in Poland.

Alveolar echinococcosis is a serious zoonosis caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus multilocularis. Pigs, as humans, can play the role of non-specific intermediate hosts of this parasite. Detection of E. multilocularis in swine can be taken as an indicator of infection risk for humans. This paper presents the first cases where E. multilocularis larval forms have been detected in pigs in Poland. A total of 256 pig livers with different lesions were collected from slaughterhouses in southern Poland and examined by nested PCR method. Three of them were identified as E. multilocularis positive. They contained noticeable spherical nodular whitish forms on the surface of the liver, recessed partially into the liver tissue. In two cases only single lesions (3mm and 6mm in diameter) were found, while in one case numerous (eight) lesions (2mm in diameter) were found. PCR E. multilocularis identification was confirmed by sequencing and comparison with the GenBank database.