Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T01:10:05.667Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Transmission ecology of Echinococcus in wild-life in Australia and Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2004

D. J. JENKINS
Affiliation:
Australian Hydatid Control and Epidemiology Program, 12 Mildura Street, Fyshwick, ACT 2609, Australia
C. N. L. MACPHERSON
Affiliation:
Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation at St George's University, Grenada, West Indies

Abstract

Following the introduction of E. granulosus into Australia with domestic animals during European settlement, the parasite quickly became established in the E. granulosus-naive native animals of the continent. The distribution of E. granulosus in wildlife in Australia is restricted by rainfall, but nevertheless the parasite is currently widespread and highly prevalent in many areas including numerous national parks and privately owned farms. The human population of Africa is rapidly increasing resulting in ever more pressure on wild-life populations and habitat. National parks, reserves and conservation areas now provide important tracts of preserved habitat for maintaining populations of wildlife that are also important in the maintenance of E. granulosus. In some parts of Africa, hydatid-infected humans provide a source of E. granulosus infection to wildlife definitive hosts. In many areas felids may also act as important definitive hosts for E. granulosus with the parasite being maintained in a prey/predator relationship between lions and a range of intermediate hosts. Populations of E. granulosus-infected wild-life both in Australia and Africa act as important reservoirs in perpetuating the transmission of E. granulosus to both domestic animals and humans. In Australia, E. granulosus-infected wild-life is infiltrating urban areas and currently represents a potentially important new public health problem.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

BALDOCK, F. C., THOMPSON, R. C. A., KUMARATILAKE, L. M. & SHIELD, J. (1985). Echinococcus granulosus in farm dogs and dingoes in south eastern Queensland. Australian Veterinary Journal 62, 335337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BANKS, D. D. (1984). Epidemiology of Echinococcus granulosus in Tropical Queensland. Ph.D. thesis. James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville.
BASSON, P. A., McCULLY, R. M., KRUGER, S. P., VAN NIEKERK, J. W., YOUNG, E. & DE VOS, V. (1970). Parasitic and other diseases of the African buffalo in the Kruger National Park. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 37, 1128.Google Scholar
BOOMKER, J., ANTHONISSEN, M. & HORAK, I. G. (1989). Parasites of South African wildlife. IV. Helminths of kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros, in the Kruger National Park. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 56, 111121.Google Scholar
BOWLES, J., VAN KNAPEN, F. & McMANUS, D. P. (1992). Genetic variants within the genus Echinococcus identified by mitochrondial DNA sequencing. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 54, 165174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COMAN, B. J. (1972). Helminth parasites of the dingo and feral dog in Victoria with some notes on the diet of the host. Australian Veterinary Journal 48, 456461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CORBETT, L. (1995). The Dingo in Australia and Asia, 2nd Edn. Sydney, University of New South Wales Press Ltd.
DINNIK, J. A. & SACHS, R. (1972). Taeniidae of lions in East Africa. Zeitschrift fur izin und ologie. Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 23, 197210.Google Scholar
DURIE, P. H. & RIEK, R. F. (1952). The role of the dingo and wallaby in the infestation of cattle with hydatids (Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786) Rudolphi, 1805) in Queensland. Australian Veterinary Journal 28, 249254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EUGSTER, R. O. (1978). A contribution to the epidemiology of echinococcosis/hydatidosis in Kenya (East Africa) with special reference to Kajiado District. DVM thesis. University of Zurich.
GEMMELL, M. A. (1958). Hydatid disease in Australia III. Observations on the incidence and geographical distribution of hydatidiasis in sheep in New South Wales. Australian Veteterinary Journal 34, 269280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GEMMELL, M. A. (1959). Hydatid disease in Australia VII. An appraisal of the present position and some problems of control. Australian Veterinary Journal 35, 505514.Google Scholar
GRABER, M. & THAL, J. (1980). L'echinococcose des artiodactyles sauvages de la Republique Centrafricane: existence probable d'un cycle lion-phacochere. Revue d'Elevage et de Medecine Veterinaire des Pays Tropicaux 33, 5159.Google Scholar
GRAINGER, H. J. & JENKINS, D. J. (1996). Transmission of hydatid disease to sheep from wild dogs in Victoria, Australia. International Journal for Parasitology 26, 12631270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GRIFFITH, J. E., BEVERIDGE, I., CHILTON, N. B. & JOHNSON, P. M. (2000). Helminth communities of pademelons, Thylogale stigmatica and T. thetis from eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Journal of Helminthology 74, 307314.Google Scholar
HOPE, M., BOWLES, J., PROCIV, P. & McMANUS, D. P. (1992). A genetic comparison of human and wildlife isolates of Echinococcus granulosus in Queensland: public health implications. Medical Journal of Australia 156, 2730.Google Scholar
JENKINS, D. J. (2002). Echinococcus in Australia: The role of wildlife in transmission, with particular reference to south eastern Australia. In Cestode Zoonoses: Echinococcosis and Cysticercosis (ed. Craig, P. & Pawlowski, Z.), pp. 327332. Amsterdam, NATO Science Series, IOS Press.
JENKINS, D. J. & CRAIG, N. A. (1992). The role of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in the epidemiology of Echinococcus granulosus in urban environments. Medical Journal of Australia 157, 754756.Google Scholar
JENKINS, D. J. & MORRIS, B. (1991). Unusually heavy infection of Echinococcus granulosus in wild dogs in south eastern Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 68, 3637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JENKINS, D. J. & MORRIS, B. (2003). Echinococcus granulosus in and around the Kosciuszko National Park, south-eastern Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 81, 5963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JENKINS, D. J. & POWER, K. (1996). Human hydatidosis in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 1987–1992. Medical Journal of Australia 164, 1821.Google Scholar
JENKINS, D. J. & THOMPSON, R. C. A. (1995). Hydatid cyst development in an experimentally infected wild rabbit. The Veterinary Record 137, 148149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, T. H. (1909). Notes on some Australian parasites. Agricultural Gazette of NSW 20, 581584.Google Scholar
JOHNSON, P. M., SPEAR, R. & BEVERIDGE, I. (1998). Mortality in wild and captive rock-wallabies and nailtail wallabies due to hydatid disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Australian Mammalogy 20, 419423.Google Scholar
KING, H. W. H. (1959). Transhumant grazing in the snow belt of New South Wales. Australian Geographer 7, 129140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KRECEK, R. C., BOOMKER, J., PENZHORN, B. L. & SCHEEPERS, L. (1990). Internal parasites of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis angolensis) from Etosha National Park. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 26, 395397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KUMARATILAKE, L. M. & THOMPSON, R. C. A. (1982). Hydatidosis/echinococcosis. Helminthological Abstracts – Series A. Animal and Human Helminthology 51, 233252.Google Scholar
LAWSON, R. J. & GEMMELL, M. A. (1983). Hydatidosis and cysticercosis: the dynamics of transmission. Advances in Parasitology 22, 261308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LIDETU, D. (1992). Epidemiological, serological and histopathological studies on sylvatic hydatid disease in North Queensland. MVSc thesis. James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville.
MACPHERSON, C. N. L. (1983). An active intermediate host role for man in the life cycle of Echinococcus granulosus in Turkana, Kenya. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 32, 397404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MACPHERSON, C. N. L. (1986). Echinococcus infections in wild animals in Africa. In Wildlife/livestock interfaces on rangelands (ed. Macmillan, S.), pp. 7378. Nairobi, Inter-Africa Bureau for Animal Resources.
MACPHERSON, C. N. L. (1994). Epidemiology and control of parasites in nomadic situations. Veterinary Parasitology 37, 87102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MACPHERSON, C. N. L., ELSE, J. E. & SULEMAN, M. (1986). Experimental infections of the baboon (Papio cynocephalus) with Echinococcus granulosus of camel, cattle, sheep and goat origin from Kenya. Journal of Helminthology 60, 213217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MACPHERSON, C. N. L. & KARSTAD, L. (1981). The role of jackals in the transmission of Echinococcus granulosus in the Turkana District of Kenya. In Wildlife disease research and economic development (ed. Karstad, L., Nestel, B. & Graham, M. ), pp. 5356. Ottawa, Canada, International Development Research Centre.
MACPHERSON, C. N. L., KARSTAD, L., STEVENSON, P. & ARUNDEL, J. H. (1983). Hydatid disease in the Turkana District of Kenya, III: The significance of the wild animals in the transmission of Echinococcus granulosus, with particular reference to Turkana and Maasailand in Kenya. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 77, 6673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MACPHERSON, C. N. L. & WACHIRA, T. W. M. (1997). Cystic echinococcus in Africa south of the Sahara. In Compendium on Cystic Echinococcosis in Africa and in Middle Eastern Countries with Special Reference to Morocco (ed. Andersen, F. L., Ouhelli, H. & Kachani, M. ), pp. 245277. Provo, Utah, USA, Brighman Young University.
MECH, L. D. (1966). The Wolves of Isle Royale, Fauna of the National Parks of the USA. Fauna Series 7. Washington, DC, US Government Printing Office.
MIDDLETON, M. (2002). Provisional eradication of hydatid disease in Tasmania – the final campaign stages. Proceedings of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Society for Parasitology, Hobart.
MUCHEMI, G. K. M. (1982). A Study of Muscle Cysticercosis in Wild Animals in Kenya. Master of Science thesis, University of Guelph.
NELSON, G. S. & RAUSCH, R. L. (1963). Echinococcus infections in man and animals in Kenya. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 57, 136149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NEWSOME, A. E., CORBETT, L. K., CATLING, P. C & BURT, R. J. (1983). The feeding ecology of the dingo 1. Stomach contents from trapping in south-eastern Australia, and the non-target wildlife also caught in dingo traps. Australian Wildlife Research 1, 477486.Google Scholar
OBENDORF, D. L., MATHESON, M. J. & THOMPSON, R. C. A. (1989). Echinococcus granulosus infection in foxes in south-eastern New South Wales. Australian Veterinary Journal 66, 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ORTLEPP, R. J. (1937). South African Helminths. Part I. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science 9, 311366.Google Scholar
PHARO, H. J. (2002). New Zealand declares provisional freedom from hydatids. Proceedings of the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Society for Parasitology, Hobart.
RAUSCH, R. L. (1967). A consideration of infraspecific categories in the genus Echinococcus Rudolphi, 1801 (Cestoda: Taeniidae). Journal of Parasitology 53, 484491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RAUSCH, R. L. & NELSON, G. S. (1963). A review of the genus Echinococcus Rudolphi, 1801. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 57, 127135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REICHEL, M. P., LYFORD, R. A. & GASSER, R. B. (1994). Hyperendemic focus of echinococcosis in north-eastern Victoria. The Medical Journal of Australia 160, 499501.Google Scholar
ROBERTSHAW, J. D. & HARDEN, R. H. (1985). The ecology of the dingo in north-eastern New South Wales II. Diet. Australian Wildlife Research 12, 3950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROBERTSHAW, J. D. & HARDEN, R. H. (1986). The ecology of the dingo in north-eastern New South Wales IV. Prey selection by dingoes, and its effect on the major prey species, the swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolour (Desmarest). Australian Wildlife Research 13, 141163.Google Scholar
RODGERS, W. A. (1974). Weights, measurements and parasitic infestation of six lions from southern Tanzania. East African Medical Journal 12, 157158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROSS, I. C. (1926). A survey of the incidence of Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch) or hydatid disease in New South Wales. Journal of the Australian Veterinary Association II, 5657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SACHS, R. & SACHS, C. (1968). A survey of parasitic infestation of wild herbivores in the Serengeti region in northern Tanzania and the Lake Rukwa region in southern Tanzania. Bulletin of Epizootiology and Disease in Africa 16, 455472.Google Scholar
SCHANTZ, P. M., CHAI, J., CRAIG, P. S., ECKERT, J., JENKINS, D. J., MACPHERSON, C. N. L. & THAKUR, A. (1995). Epidemiology and control of hydatid disease. In Echinococcus and Hydatid Disease ( ed. Thompson, R. C. A. & Lymbery, A. J. ), pp. 233331. Wallingford, CAB International.
SCHANTZ, P. M., LORD, R. D. & ZALVELETA, O. DE (1972). Echinococcus in the South American red fox (Dusicyon culpaeus) and the European hare (Lepus europeus) in the Province of Neuquen, Argentina. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 66, 479485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHWABE, C. W. (1969). Veterinary Medicine and Human Health (2nd edition). New York, Williams and Wilkens.
SMALL, L. M. & PINCH, D. S. (2003). Survey of hydatidosis in cattle bred in the northern region of the Northern Territory. Australian Veterinary Journal 81, 355358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STRAHAN, R. (1998). The Mammals of Australia. Revised edition, pp. 404405. Sydney, New Holland Publishers Pty Ltd.
SWEATMAN, G. K. & WILLIAMS, R. J. (1963). Survival of Echinococcus granulosus and Taenia hydatigena eggs in two extreme climatic regions of New Zealand. Research in Veterinary Science 4, 199216.Google Scholar
SWEET, G. (1909). The endoparasites of Australian stock and native fauna. Part II, New and unrecorded species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 12, 503527.Google Scholar
TAYLOR, K. (1993). Hydatids in 1992: Public Health Lesson. Update. Department of Health and Community Services. Victoria 2, 6364.Google Scholar
THOMPSON, R. C. A. (1979). Biology and speciation of Echinococcus granulosus. Australian Veterinary Journal 55, 9398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THOMPSON, R. C. A. & KUMARATILAKE, L. M. (1985). Comparative development of Australian strains of Echinococcus granulosus in dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) and domestic dogs (C. f. familiaris), with further evidence for the origin of the Australian sylvatic strain. International Journal for Parasitology 15, 535542.Google Scholar
THOMPSON, R. C. A., LYMBERY, A. J., HOBBS, R. P. & ELLIOT, A. D. (1988). Hydatid disease in urban areas of Western Australia: and unusual cycle involving western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus), feral pigs and domestic dogs. Australian Veterinary Journal 65, 18890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THOMPSON, R. C. A. & McMANUS, D. P. (2002). Towards a taxonomic revision of the genus Echinococcus. Trends in Parasitology 18, 452457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THOMPSON, R. C. A., NOTT, D. B., SQUIRE, J. & RENNEL, D. (1987). Evidence that the Australian sylvatic strain of Echinococcus granulosus is infective to humans. Australian Veterinary Journal 146, 396397.Google Scholar
TRONCY, P. & GRABER, M. (1969). L'echinococcose-hydatidose en Afrique Centrale. III. Taeniasis des carnivores a Echinococcus granulosus (Batsch, 1786–Rudolphi, 1801). Revue d'Elevage Medecine Veterinaire Pays Tropicaux 22, 7584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TURN, C. & SMALES, L. R. (2001). Parasites of the bridled nailtail wallaby (Onychogalea fraenata) (Marsupialia : Macropodidae). Wildlife Research 28, 403411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VERSTER, A. (1962). Helminth research in South Africa V. Echinococcus in South Africa. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association XXXII, 181185.Google Scholar
VERSTER, A. (1965). Review of Echinococcus species in South Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 32, 7118.Google Scholar
VERSTER, A. & COLLINS, M. (1966). The incidence of hydatidosis in the Republic of South Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research 33, 4972.Google Scholar
WOODFORD, M. H. & SACHS, R. (1973). The incidence of cysticercosis, hydatidosis and sparganosis in wild herbivores of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. Bulletin of Epizootiology and Disease in Africa 21, 265271.Google Scholar
YOUNG, E. (1975). Echinococcosis (hydatidosis) in wild animals of the Kruger National Park. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 46, 285286.Google Scholar