Volume 7, Number 3—June 2001
Research
Is High Prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in Wild and Domestic Animals Associated with Disease Incidence in Humans?
Bruno Gottstein*
, Francis Saucy†, Peter Deplazes‡, Juerg Reichen*, Georges Demierre§, Andre Busato*, Christian Zuercher*, and Paul Pugin¶
, Francis Saucy†, Peter Deplazes‡, Juerg Reichen*, Georges Demierre§, Andre Busato*, Christian Zuercher*, and Paul Pugin¶Table 2
Prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis in dogs and cats, 1996a
| Animal | No. of animals tested | No. positive for taeniid eggs | No. positive by PCR | No. positive by ELISA | Final E. multilocularis positive diagnosis (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feral dogs | 86 | 7b | 6b,c | 6b,c | 6/86 (7) |
| Cats | 33 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/33 (3) |
aPCR was performed directly on eggs following a taeniid egg isolation (9).
bOne dog had a borderline coproantigen reactivity. Subsequent investigations provided a negative Echinococcus-PCR by the presence of taeniid eggs. Thus, final test interpretation did not indicate E. multilocularis infection.
cPCR- and copro-Ag-positivity refers to all the same animals. The one dog exhibiting a borderline copro-Ag-reactivity is not in these group of animals.
