Prevalence of Echinococcus spp. Infection Using Coproantigen ELISA among Canids of Moghan Plain, Iran

Echinococcosis is one of the most important helminthic zoonotic diseases in Iran. Intestinal Scraping Tech nique (IST), the traditional method for diagnosis of infection in definitive hosts, has many disadvantages including low susceptibil ity and being expensive, hazardous and laborious. Detection of coproantigens in fecal samples by enzyme-linked immu nosorbent assay (CA-ELISA) is known as a useful tool for intravital mass-screening of definitive host populations. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Echinococcus spp. infection among canids in Moghan plain, the only area in Iran known as endemic for E. multilocularis. One hundred thirty eight fecal samples were collected from red foxes and domestic dogs in three counties of Moghan plain namely Pars Abad, Bileh Savar and Germi. The samples were examined using an ELISA, designed for the detec tion of Echinococcus-specific coproantigen and the formalin-ether concentration method as well. Totally, out of 138 fecal samples, 27 (21.6%) turned positive for Echinococcus coproantigen. coproantigen was de tected in 16.7% and 27.1% of red foxes and domestic dogs, respectively. Formalin-ether concentration method revealed that 43 (31.2%) of samples harbored at least one parasitic helminth, but Taenia eggs were detected only in 3 fecal samples. Since coproantigen presence reflects current intestinal infection with adult worms, CA-ELISA can be regarded as one of the most useful immunological tools for diagnosis of Echinococcus infection. Besides, the high susceptibility, less expense and rapid ity make it the method of choice for epidemiological surveys in endemic areas of Iran.