Echinococcus granulosus
Echinococcus granulosus
Taxonomy
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Platyhelminthes
- Subclass Cestoda
- Order Cyclophyllidea
- Family Taeniidae
- Genus Echinococcus
Final host
Dog, fox and wild canids
Morphology
Adult: small tapeworm (≈ 2-6 mm long) The scolex is armed with a rostellum that has two rows of hooks Strobila with only three or four segments Each segment has a single genital opening, with the penultimate segment sexually mature and the last segment gravid The uterus is sac-like The eggs are typically 'taeniid': small and spherical (≈ 30 - 45 µm) with a radially striated embryophore and a six-hooked oncosphere. Metacestode: unilocular hydatid cyst
Cycle
Indirect Intermediate host: sheep, cattle, camel, deer, buffalo, pig and humans
Location
Small intestine
Feeding
Intestinal contents (absorption by the tegument)
Diagnostic
Egg (final host) Hydatid cyst (intermediate host)
Transmission
Hydatid cyst with protoscolices (for the final host) Eggs shed by canids (for the intermediate hosts)
