Prevalence of echinococcosis in humans, livestock and dogs in northern Italy

The presence of Echinococcus sp. cysts was investigated in 822 sheep, 123 goats and 112,521 cattle from Lombardy region, North Italy. Faecal samples from 40 sheepdogs were also analyzed, with 9 samples containing taeniid eggs (22.5 %), 8 samples being coproantigen-positive (20 %), and one dog from a northern province (Lecco) positively confirmed by PCR. Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) was detected in 0.36 % of sheep and in 0.29 % of cattle in 2004. No goat resulted to be infected. Data from CE patients treated in Lombardy were collected by inspecting hospital discharge records. In 2004, 156 CE-related admissions (62 % male and 38 % female) were reported in Lombardy. Total hospital stay was 1,372 days (1,286 for inpatients, 86 for outpatients). Most patients (72.4 %) were residents in Lombardy and 1.9 % were from Piedmont; the remaining patients were from central and southern Italy. According to acquired data CE resulted hypoendemic in animals in Lombardy. Prevalence rates in humans were higher than expected in this region, usually considered as non-endemic. Assessment of the prevalence of CE in humans remains a difficult, costly, time-consuming and labourintensive task. The present study suggests establishing a National Registry of Cystic Echinococcosis with the aim to highlight regional risk factors and to benefit from its matching both clinical and epidemiological data.