Vaccination against hydatid disease

Hydatid disease is a parasitic infection that causes widespread human morbidity and mortality. Livestock animals, particularly sheep, are involved in the parasite's lifecycle. A defined antigen vaccine has been developed which can prevent hydatid infection in sheep. The vaccine has been shown to be highly effective in animal trials, with almost complete immunity persisting for more than a year after vaccination. Use of the vaccine in livestock may decrease transmission of the parasite and, indirectly, reduce the incidence of infections in humans. In some regions animal vaccination or other hydatid control measures are unlikely to be applicable. In these areas, direct vaccination of humans against hydatid infection may be the only practical option for disease prevention. The extraordinary effectiveness of the hydatid vaccine in the parasite's natural animal hosts singles this vaccine out as having perhaps the greatest potential for development of the first effective human vaccine against a parasitic disease.