Molecular and Morphological Characterizations of Echinococcus granulosus from Human and Animal Isolates in Kashan, Markazi Province, Iran

One of the most important zoonotic helminths in the world is known as Echinococcus granulosus. Different strains of the E. granulosus have been described based on morphological and molecular characterizations, however, there is limited information regarding the characteristics of the phenotypes and genotypes of E. granulosus in Iran.
The present study was prepared to evaluate the phenotypic and genotypic diversity of E. granulosus isolates collected from human, goat, sheep, and cattle based on 19 standard morphometric parameters and mitochondrial and nuclear genes (CO1, ND1, and ITS1) in Kashan, Markazi Province, Iran during 2013-2014.
The biometric analysis for the 19 characters revealed that the 19 morphometric values of cattle isolates were exceptionally higher than human, goat, and sheep isolates (P Both morphological and molecular results of this study indicated that the only genotype G1 of E. granulosus travels between humans and other intermediate hosts of this parasite in the area study.