Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
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Echinococcosis
is a disease caused by Echinococcus spp. cestode parasites. There are more than
20 species of this parasite, Echinococcus (E.) spp. Four important species are E. granulosus (Batsch, 1786) that causes
“Cystic echinococcosis” (CE), E.
multilocularis (Leuckart, 1863) that causes “Alveolar echinococcosis” (AE),
E. oligarthrus (Diesing, 1863) and E. vogeli (Rausch and Bernstein, 1972).
Definitive host of the parasite, are wide-spread in the world, for instance;
fox, cat, wolf, raccoon–dog (Nyctereutes
procyonoides albus), American cervid strain (European or Fennoscandian
cervid strain), pigs, lions (Panthera leo), jackals (Canis mesomelas and C. aureus),
wild canids (eg. hunting dogs (Lycaon
pictus), hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta).
Echinococcus spp live in the
intestines of definitive hosts. The parasites are transmitted to intermediate
hosts by eggs that are spread around by the feces of the definitive host.
Intermediate hosts are again very wide-spread such as humans, sheep, buffalo,
horse, cattle, camel, pig Although affected organs in the intermediate hosts vary
according to species, the liver, lungs, brain, kidney are commonly involved
organs. The disease can last for 20-30 years.
It
is more common in the northern hemisphere of the world. It is especially common
in Asia and Europe. Echinococcosis has a global distribution with an estimated
2–3 million people affected and 200,000 new cases diagnosed annually. World
Health Organization (WHO) accepted "echinococcosis" as one of the 17
neglected diseases for year 2050 and included this parasitic disease in
"elimination program". the World Health Organization/Food and
Agriculture Organization included Taenia
solium, E. granulosus, and E. multilocularis in the food borne
parasitic diseases.
There
are two main issues in “echinococcosis” that inspired us to write this book.
Firstly, it is a “neglected disease”. Secondly, due to the rough use of industry,
the pollution of our world's waters and the increase in global warming cause an
increase the possibility of the spread of disease.
In
the chapters of our book; you can find epidemiological information about
echinococcosis species, classical, molecular, serological diagnosis methods,
medical and surgical treatment methods, control mechanisms of the disease,
vaccine studies, information and suggestions about what needs to be done in the
future.
The Department of Medical Parasitology,
Dokuz Eylul University of Medical Faculty
İzmir, Türkiye