title: Short report: Echinococcus multilocularis confirmed on Kunashiri Island, 15 kilometers from the eastern part of Hokkaido, Japan.
abstract: There are two foci of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis in Japan. The first focus is on Rebun Island where AE patients were found from 1937, and the second is in eastern Hokkaido where patients have been found since the 1960s. The origin of the second focus is unknown. To further investigate AE in eastern Hokkaido, wild rodents (Muridae) were captured and examined for infection on Kunashiri Island, which is located 15 km off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido. Metacestodes of E. multilocularis were isolated from two of 31 voles, all of which were identified to be Clethrionomys rufocanus. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing data of recovered cestodes showed total identity with the cestode reported from Hokkaido. These results suggest that E. multilocularis may have been introduced to Hokkaido from Kunashiri Island during or after 1965.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Immunology, Saitama Medical School, Saitama, Japan. satoma@saitama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakaya
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sako
authors.forename: Yukako
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naitoh
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohtaishi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000469:parasitology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D048210:Echinococcus multilocularis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007564:Japan; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010139:Pacific Islands; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D018509:DNA, Helminth