title: Dual infection of animal hosts with different Echinococcus species in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau region of China.
abstract: The eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau of China is a highly endemic region of echinococcosis where Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto (sheep strain), Echinococcus multilocularis, and Echinococcus shiquicus are distributed sympatrically. We developed a polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method for the identification of the three species in this region. The PCR-RFLP showed the dual infection of animals with different Echinococcus spp. The first case was a domestic dog concurrently infected with adults of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis. The second case was a plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) harboring metacestodes of E. multilocularis and E. shiquicus in the liver. The high susceptibility of some mammalian hosts to the parasites and the high prevalence of the three co-endemic species probably increase the chance of mixed infections in the eastern Tibetan plateau.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan. xiaoning@asahikawa-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakao
authors.forename: Jiamin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Budke
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giraudoux
authors.forename: Philip S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007793:Lagomorpha / Q000469:parasitology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes