Echinococcosis /hydatidosis in Iran

Cystic echinococcosis caused by Echinococcus spp. is considered endemic in Iran. To clarify the pre­sent status of hydatidosis in Iran the present review article is presented. Authentic databases and search engines from 1996 onwards were utilized to enquire the situation of the disease in Iran. Human hydati­dosis is responsible for approximately 1% of admission to surgical wards and the rate of human infec­tion is 0.6-1.2/100000. The usual order of involvement, i.e. liver, lung, and other organs, respectively is documented here as well. Risk factors include contact with dog, eating vegetable, geophagy and con­tact with sheep. Dogs play a critical role in transition the hydatidosis. The rate of infec­tion with E. granulo­sus in stray dogs shows a prevalence of 5% to 49% in different parts of Iran. Followed by sheep with 88% fertilized cysts, camel with 70%, and cattle with 19% have been considered as the most important and the weakest intermediate host of E. granulosus, respectively. Molecular analyses clearly indicate that the camel/dog strain (G6 genotype) of E. granulosus as well as the cosmopolitan, common sheep strain (G1 genotype) occurs in Iran. A wide variety of livestock including sheep, cattle, goat, camel and buffalo also harbor the disease. E. multilocularis another agent of human hydatidosis (alveolar cyst) is reported here as well and from 1946 to 1993, 37 cases of human alveo­lar echinococcosis were reported from northwestern Iran. Hydatidosis must be consid­ered as a dilemma in Iran because of its endemicity in the country.