Spreading of multilocular echinococcosis in southern Europe: the first record in foxes and jackals in Serbia, Vojvodina Province

Unexpected Echinococcus multilocularis infections in shepherd dogs and wolves in south-western Italian Alps: A new endemic area?

“…This is the southern-most report of E. multilocularis in Italy, and the southern-most in Europe beside the most recent findings in Croatia and Serbia ( Beck et al, 2018 ; Lalošević et al, 2016 ), and an older record from the European part of Turkey ( Deplazes et al, 2017 ). This infection is likely due to a south-eastward expansion of the current E. multilocularis range in France.…”

Occurrence of <i>Echinococcus</i> spp. in red foxes and wolves in the protected area of the Tatra National Park in southern Poland – a threat to human health

“…In general, the extension of the E. multilocularis occurrence zone and increase in the parasite prevalence in red foxes have been observed in Europe during the last decades [7]. An example of the spread of this tapeworm is the finding in the Italian Maritime Alps in shepherd dogs and wolves [11], which is the southern-most report in Europe, apart from findings in foxes and golden jackals in Croatia and Serbia [9,10,12]. In the current study, fox faeces were collected in mountain areas, with some samples collected up to 2,000 m above sea level.…”

“…During the past decades, the known geographic distribution of E. multilocularis in red foxes has been expanding east and north from its endemic areas in Central Europe [1,6,7,8]. In the last few years, an extension of the southern boundary of the endemic areas has been reported [9,10,11]. The parasite's expansion southward has been revealed in wolves (Canis lupus) in the Southern Italian Alps [11] and in golden jackals (Canis aureus) in parts of the Balkan peninsula, i.e.…”

“…The parasite's expansion southward has been revealed in wolves (Canis lupus) in the Southern Italian Alps [11] and in golden jackals (Canis aureus) in parts of the Balkan peninsula, i.e. in Serbia and Croatia [10,12]. A preliminary ranking of E. multilocularis infection in red foxes in Europe, based on pooled prevalence, identified Poland among the high prevalence territories with a pooled prevalence of > 10 % [7].…”

Human Alveolar Echinococcosis, Croatia

“…E. multilocularis tapeworms have been reported in foxes in western and central Croatia (6) and likely is in eastern areas, such as Vukovar, because it was found in 17.9% of foxes and 14.3% of golden jackals in the region of Serbia directly across the Danube River from Vukovar (7). Since 2013, rabies vaccination has increased in Croatia, which might give the fox population an opportunity to expand and increase transmission of E. multilocularis tapeworms to humans, as noted in Switzerland (8).…”