title: Genetic diversity of the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis in red foxes at a continental scale in Europe.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe helminth disease affecting humans, which is caused by the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. AE represents a serious public health issue in larger regions of China, Siberia, and other regions in Asia. In Europe, a significant increase in prevalence since the 1990s is not only affecting the historically documented endemic area north of the Alps but more recently also neighbouring regions previously not known to be endemic. The genetic diversity of the parasite population and respective distribution in Europe have now been investigated in view of generating a fine-tuned map of parasite variants occurring in Europe. This approach may serve as a model to study the parasite at a worldwide level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genetic diversity of E. multilocularis was assessed based upon the tandemly repeated microsatellite marker EmsB in association with matching fox host geographical positions. Our study demonstrated a higher genetic diversity in the endemic areas north of the Alps when compared to other areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study of the spatial distribution of E. multilocularis in Europe, based on 32 genetic clusters, suggests that Europe can be considered as a unique global focus of E. multilocularis, which can be schematically drawn as a central core located in Switzerland and Jura Swabe flanked by neighbouring regions where the parasite exhibits a lower genetic diversity. The transmission of the parasite into peripheral regions is governed by a "mainland-island" system. Moreover, the presence of similar genetic profiles in both zones indicated a founder event.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.forename: Jean-Mathieu
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bart
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giraudoux
authors.forename: Marie-Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Glowatzki
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Breyer
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raoul
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deplazes
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duscher
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martinek
authors.forename: Pavol
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dubinsky
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Guislain
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cliquet
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Romig
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malczewski
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gottstein
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piarroux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D048210:Echinococcus multilocularis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005589:Foxes / Q000469:parasitology*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology