Anses, Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, National Reference Laboratory Echinococcus spp., 54220 Malzéville, France.
French Establishment for Fighting Zoonoses (ELIZ), Domaine de Pixérécourt, 54220 Malzéville, France; University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, SFR Cap Santé, EA 7510 ESCAPE, 51092 Reims cedex, France.
Parasitol Int. 2022 Aug;89:102583. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2022.102583. Epub 2022 Apr 6.
Echinococcus multilocularis is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis that is considered as the most severe parasitic disease in Europe. The contribution of cat to environmental contamination by E. multilocularis is generally considered as extremely low based on results of experimental infections and worm burden estimations from natural infections. However, the recent collection of numerous cat feces from kitchen gardens in high endemic areas and the detection of E. multilocularis DNA in a significant number of these feces raise the question of the risk of human transmission from cats. This study aimed to provide a quantitative estimation of E. multilocularis eggs in feces from naturally infected cats. A field sampling conducted in 192 kitchen gardens during a joint study led to the collection and analysis of 597 cat feces, among them 7 (1.2%) yielded positive results for E. multilocularis real-time PCR. The entire pellets obtained after homogenization, filtration and centrifugation of a 5 g-sample for each of these 7 feces were examined under a stereoscopic microscope. After assessing their number, 20 taeniid eggs were individually isolated and specifically identified by real-time PCR. Morphologically mature E. multilocularis eggs were identified in 4 samples and the counting of 4 to 43 E. multilocularis eggs per gram in these samples, i.e. 62 to 2331 eggs per feces when the total mass of the feces is considered. The number of eggs counted in 2 feces suggests a biotic potential of some naturally infected cats that largely exceed the previous experimental estimations.
泡状棘球蚴是泡型包虫病的病原体，被认为是欧洲最严重的寄生虫病。基于实验感染和自然感染的虫体负荷估计，猫对泡状棘球蚴环境污染的贡献通常被认为极低。然而，最近在高流行地区的许多菜园中收集到大量猫粪便，以及在这些粪便中的相当数量中检测到泡状棘球蚴 DNA，这引发了猫向人类传播的风险问题。本研究旨在对自然感染猫的粪便中的泡状棘球蚴卵进行定量估计。在一项联合研究中，在 192 个菜园中进行了实地采样，共收集和分析了 597 份猫粪便，其中 7 份（1.2%）实时 PCR 检测为泡状棘球蚴阳性。对这 7 份粪便中每份 5 克粪便样本进行匀浆、过滤和离心后获得的整个粪丸，在立体显微镜下进行检查。在评估其数量后，从每个粪丸中分离出 20 个带绦虫卵，并通过实时 PCR 进行特异性鉴定。在 4 个样本中鉴定出形态成熟的泡状棘球蚴卵，在这些样本中每克粪便中计数 4 至 43 个泡状棘球蚴卵，即当考虑粪便的总质量时，每个粪便中含有 62 至 2331 个卵。在 2 份粪便中计数的卵数表明，一些自然感染猫的生物潜能大大超过了之前的实验估计。
