title: Echinococcus granulosus in Finland.
abstract: Echinococcus granulosus is shown to occur in eastern Finland in a sylvatic cycle involving wolves (Canis lupus) as the definitive host and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and probably also elk (Alces alces) and the wild forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus) as intermediate hosts. Even though the prevalence of E. granulosus in reindeer has increased in recent years, it is still very low (<0.013%). The results suggest, however, that the reindeer is a good sentinel animal to show the contamination of soil with Echinococcus eggs. This is the first report of wolves acting as a definitive host for E. granulosus in northern Europe. The parasite seems to be quite common in the Finnish wolf population, with a prevalence of approximately 30% in both intestinal and faecal samples. The present results and previous ones indicate that E. granulosus infection has not spread to dogs in the reindeer herding area.
authors.affiliation: National Veterinary and Food Research Institute (EELA), Oulu Regional Unit, P.O. Box 517, FIN-90101 Oulu, Finland. varpu.hirvela-koski@eela.fi
authors.forename: Varpu
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hirvelä-Koski
authors.forename: Voitto
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Haukisalmi
authors.forename: Seija-Sisko
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kilpelä
authors.forename: Minna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nylund
authors.forename: Perttu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D007422:Intestines / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D012053:Reindeer / Q000469:parasitology*; D012424:Rural Population; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D019596:Wolves / Q000469:parasitology*