Molecular technology: improving strategies for controlling hydatid disease and cysticercosis

Recombinant DNA and related technologies are providing valuable, novel reagents for application in control strategies against the major parasitic diseases, including hydatid disease and cysticercosis. The impact of these powerful techniques for improving diagnosis and identification of various life cycle stages of Echinococcus spp. and Taenia solium, essential pre-requisites for epidemiological studies and for evaluating control programs, is beyond question. Furthermore, the use of molecular technology for characterizing sub-specific variants of strains of both Echinococcus and T. solium has led to important revisions of our understanding of the diseases they cause. In light of the recent remarkable development of a recombinant vaccine against T. ovis, the first practical parasite vaccine to be produced, the prospects for rapid development of similar vaccines against the medically important taeniids appear to be very encouraging.