Echinococcus multilocularis infection in animals
Author
Butterworth, Andrew
Botner, Anette
Garin-Bastuji, Bruno
Gortazar Schmidt, Christian
Winckler, Christoph
Bicout, Dominique
Thulke, Hans H.
Spoolder, Hans
Stegeman, Jan Arend
Depner, Klaus
Sihvonen, Lisa
Good, Margaret
Miranda, Miguel Angel
Raj, Mohan
Calistri, Paolo
Willeberg, Preben
Edwards, Sandra
More, Simon
Nielsen, Søren Saxmose
Michel, Virginie
Publication date
2015-12-22ISSN
1831-4732
Abstract
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was required to support the European Commission in
preparing the review of Regulation (EU) No 1152/2011. In Europe, red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the main
definitive host of the Echinococcus multilocularis (EM) lifecycle. There is no evidence that any other
carnivore species can maintain the lifecycle in the absence of red fox, and this makes it to most relevant target species for surveillance. Movement of infected definitive hosts is an important introduction pathway. The knowledge on the geographical distribution of the environmental factors for the persistence of the lifecycle is scarce. In areas where no suitable autochthonous wild canid hosts and no highly suitable intermediate hosts are present, e.g. Malta, establishment of the EM cycle is considered close to impossible. Such countries do not need to carry out surveillance on domestic dogs to substantiate absence of EM in the relevant animal population. Reconsideration of some aspects of the current legislation regarding surveillance activities might be relevant; for example the identification of epidemiologically relevant units should be independent from political borders. Studies to improve the knowledge on epidemiological risk factors should be encouraged to enable risk-based sampling. Echinococcus notification should always be done at species level in order to discriminate between the more severe alveolar echinococcosis and the cystic echinococcosis. Praziquantel is the substance of choice for the treatment of dogs. However, the treatment window should be reconsidered to reduce the risk of re-infection: a general rule is to treat as close as possible to entry into a non-infected country. There is a lack of standardization of the diagnostic methods between laboratories. The diagnostic sensitivity of the tests should be established in accordance to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) standards for validation. For the time being, the diagnostic sensitivity can be set conservatively to 78%.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
636 - Animal husbandry and breeding in general. Livestock rearing. Breeding of domestic animals
Pages
129
Publisher
Wiley
Is part of
EFSA Journal
Citation
Butterworth, Andrew, Anette Botner, Antonio Velarde, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Christian Gortazar Schmidt, Christoph Winckler, and Dominique Bicout et al. 2015. “Scientific opinion on Echinococcus multilocularis infection in animals”. EFSA Journal 13(12):4373. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4373.
Program
Benestar Animal
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2777]
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