Ehinokokoza - tranutno stanje u Srbiji - prirodni rezervoari

Abstract

Echinococcosis is a disease caused by cestodes of the genus Echinococcus, sorted on the list of priority zoonoses in Serbia. People become infected by consuming contaminated water and food, as well as by direct contact with the dog’s hair. A special danger represents the manipulation of shot foxes and jackals by hunters, without use of protective gloves. During the year 2017, on the territory of Republic of Serbia, 74 people were affected with echinococcosis, with an incidence rate of 1.04/100.000 inhabitants, which according to the official report of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut" is the highest registered incidence rate from 2002 to 2018. Since 2008, a growing trend in the incidence rate of echinococcosis is being registered. Until 2016, when the presence of Echinococcus multilocularis was detected, the only cause of echinococcosis in Serbia was considered to be E. granulosus, which causes cystic echinococcosis in humans and animals (cattle, sheep, domestic and wild boar). Unlike the cystic form of echinococcosis, metacestodes of E. multilocularis causes alveolar echinococcosis characterized by infiltrative and destructive growth, as well as the ability to metastasize in the body, very similar to a malignant tumor. Although so far, in our area no such case has been described, there is a reasonable suspicion of the presence of this parasite in the human population as well, and it is only a matter of time before it will be detected. A very long asymptomatic period that can last between 5 and 15 years, as well as insufficient information of medical staff about presence of a new-registered pathogen in nature, are some of the reasons that make it difficult to diagnose it in humans, even just to have the suspicion of this zoonosis in Serbia. The species E. multilocularis usually occurs in the sylvatic cycle and has so far been registered in Serbia only in foxes (prevalence - 13%) and jackals (prevalence - 14.1%) exclusively on the area of Vojvodina. For this species, high values of the degree of aggregation have been recorded, which indicates a tendency to accumulate adult forms of parasites in a small number of hosts, which are mostly responsible for the contamination of the external environment. The risk of developing human alveolar echinococcosis largely depends on the number of infectious eggs and their availability to humans, while the degree of environmental contamination largely depends on the presence of animals with a high degree of infection. According to previous research, the highest risk of echinococcosis transmission in the epizootiological area of Serbia was recorded in the district of Sre