The emergence of echinococcosis in central Asia

SUMMARY Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was an increase in the number of cases of human echinococcosis recorded throughout central Asia. Between 1991 and 2001 incidence rates of cystic echinococcosis (CE) increased by 4 fold or more. There also appeared to be increases in prevalence of CE in livestock and prevalences of Echinococcus granulosus reported in dogs. The increase in human echinococcosis was associated with changes in livestock husbandry, decline in veterinary public health services, increases in dog populations and increased poverty, all of which served to promote transmission of E. granulosus. A few years after reports of increased transmission of E. granulosus, the first reports of E. multilocularis infection in dogs were recorded. Further studies indicated that in both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan prevalences of up to 18% were present. Recently there has been a dramatic increase in the number of cases of human alveolar echinococcosis recorded in Kyrgyzstan with over 60 cases reported in 2011.