ABSTRACT
As a near-cosmopolitan zoonosis caused by tapeworms (cestodes) belonging to the genus Echinococcus, family Taeniidae, echinococcosis generally covers two diseases: cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), due to Echinococcus granulosus (a complex of species and strains, see below) and Echinococcus multilocularis, respectively. 1 Echinococcosis can be very common locally but still largely neglected. Globally, CE is responsible for most of the burden of echinococcosis, 2 although AE is re-emerging with increasing frequency in Europe 3–6 and western China. 7–16 It is estimated that 4 million people are infected and >400 million at risk of infection worldwide. 17–20
