title: Tapeworm Diphyllobothrium dendriticum (Cestoda)--neglected or emerging human parasite?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A total number of 14 valid species of Diphyllobothrium tapeworms have been described in literature to be capable of causing diphyllobothriosis, with D. latum being the major causative agent of all human infections. However, recent data indicate that some of these infections, especially when diagnosed solely on the basis of morphology, have been identified with this causative agent incorrectly, confusing other Diphyllobothrium species with D. latum. Another widely distributed species, D. dendriticum, has never been considered as a frequent parasite of man, even though it is found commonly throughout arctic and subarctic regions parasitizing piscivorous birds and mammals. Recent cases of Europeans infected with this cestode called into question the actual geographic distribution of this tapeworm, largely ignored by medical parasitologists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the basis of revision of more than 900 available references and a description and revision of recent European human cases using morphological and molecular (cox1) data supplemented by newly characterized D. dendriticum sequences, we updated the current knowledge of the life-cycle, geographic distribution, epidemiological status, and molecular diagnostics of this emerging causal agent of zoonotic disease of man.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The tapeworm D. dendriticum represents an example of a previously neglected, probably underdiagnosed parasite of man with a potential to spread globally. Recent cases of diphyllobothriosis caused by D. dendriticum in Europe (Netherlands, Switzerland and Czech Republic), where the parasite has not been reported previously, point out that causative agents of diphyllobothriosis and other zoonoses can be imported throughout the world. Molecular tools should be used for specific and reliable parasite diagnostics, and also rare or non-native species should be considered. This will considerably help improve our knowledge of the distribution and epidemiology of these human parasites.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuchta
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brabec
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kubáčková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Scholz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D004169:Diphyllobothriasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D004170:Diphyllobothrium / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058069:Neglected Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D019371:Topography, Medical