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Echinococcus granulosus

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)