Rudolf Virchow and the recognition of alveolar echinococcosis, 1850s

Alveolar echinococcosis, which is caused by the larval stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, is one of the most dangerous parasitic diseases. It is endemic in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere and an emerging health problem in the People's Republic of China. In Europe and North America, human cases are rare, but concomitant with an increase in the population of the final host, the red fox, an increase of human infections is expected. Rudolf Virchow, the father of the concept of cellular pathology, determined in the 1850s that an Echinococcus sp. was the causative agent of this enigmatic emerging disease. In his famous publication in 1855, he described the clinical course of the disease, its macroscopic aspects, and histopathologic findings in detail. He also identified the disease formerly known as alveolar colloid of the liver to be an infection with the larval stage of an Echinococcus sp.