New evidence from the northern Apennines, Italy, suggests a southward expansion of Echinococcus multilocularis range in Europe.

ABSTRACT: Echinococcus multilocularis (Em) is a neglected zoonotic cestode circulating among wild canids and voles across the northern hemisphere, and is the aetiological agent of alveolar echinococcosis in humans. The expansion of the European distribution of this parasite has been raising public health concerns in recent decades. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of Em and other taeniids in wild carnivore faeces in the Apuan Alps Regional Park and the Monte Pisano mountain chain (northern Tuscany), a few hundred kilometres from the nearest report of Em in Italy. Using standard flotation-sieving and nested PCR of partial cox1 sequences on single harvested Taeniid eggs, we detected several Em haplotypes in red foxes and grey wolves in both study areas, suggesting limited genetic diversity. Howe

SUBMITTER: Cafiero SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11873164 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature