Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias, FCEyN, UNMdP, Funes 3350, CP: 7600, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Acta Trop. 2013 Aug;127(2):136-42. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.04.008. Epub 2013 Apr 28.
Cystic echinococcosis (hydatidosis) is a severe and widespread disease, caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus; it affects large numbers of humans and farm animals annually, causing serious health and economic problems. Molecular studies have identified large genetic variation within the E. granulosus complex, with various hosts displaying different susceptibility to different genotypes. For the effective management of the disease, one of the most pressing tasks is to combine epidemiological and genetic data to better understand the role of different hosts and genotypes in the transmission of the parasite. The aim of the present study was to describe the epidemiology of cystic echinococcosis in cattle and sheep, and to characterise the genotypes of E. granulosus present in these farm animals. The study was carried out in the Pampa region of Argentina, with a particular focus on Buenos Aires province, where cystic echinococcosis represents an important human and veterinary health problem. Among 513 cattle and 792 sheep, 11.9% and 4.0%, respectively, were infected with E. granulosus. Genetic characterisation of 42 isolates from cattle and 34 isolates from sheep was carried out by sequencing mitochondrial cox1 and nad1 genes. The vast majority of isolates were identified as genotype G1, except for a single sheep isolate determined as genotype G2, and a single cattle isolate that corresponded to genotype G5. Genotype G1 has previously been found to be the most infectious genotype to humans. As G1 was also the genotype principally responsible for cystic echinococcosis in Buenos Aires province, these results have important implications for developing effective disease control programmes to improve human and animal healthcare in this region.
包虫病（棘球蚴病）是一种严重且广泛流行的疾病，由绦虫细粒棘球绦虫的幼虫阶段引起；它每年影响大量的人类和农场动物，造成严重的健康和经济问题。分子研究已经确定了细粒棘球绦虫复合体中的大量遗传变异，不同的宿主对不同基因型表现出不同的易感性。为了有效管理这种疾病，最紧迫的任务之一是结合流行病学和遗传数据，以更好地了解不同宿主和基因型在寄生虫传播中的作用。本研究的目的是描述牛和羊的包虫病流行病学，并描述这些农场动物中存在的细粒棘球绦虫基因型。该研究在阿根廷潘帕斯地区进行，特别关注布宜诺斯艾利斯省，那里的包虫病是一个重要的人类和兽医健康问题。在 513 头牛和 792 只羊中，分别有 11.9%和 4.0%感染了细粒棘球绦虫。对来自牛的 42 个分离株和来自羊的 34 个分离株进行了线粒体 cox1 和 nad1 基因测序的遗传特征分析。除了一个绵羊分离株被确定为基因型 G2 和一个牛分离株对应于基因型 G5 外，绝大多数分离株被鉴定为基因型 G1。以前发现 G1 是对人类最具传染性的基因型。由于 G1 也是布宜诺斯艾利斯省包虫病的主要原因，这些结果对于制定有效的疾病控制计划以改善该地区人类和动物的医疗保健具有重要意义。
