Echinococcus multilocularis lesions in the livers of pigs kept outdoors in Switzerland

摘要

Echinococcus multilocularis is the causative agent of alveolar echinococcosis, one of the most lethal helminthic infections of humans. The parasite is endemic in a large belt of the northern hemisphere. The natural cycle of E. multilocularis predominantly involves foxes as definitive hosts and many species of rodents as intermediate hosts. Few reports exist on natural liver infections of domestic or wild pigs with E. multilocularis metacestodes in Japan and Central Europe. A high rate of liver confiscates (approx. 35 percent) was observed at slaughter during an investigation on outdoor husbandry of pigs in Switzerland. We reviewed this confiscate rate by examining the livers of 90 finishing pigs (11 to 18 livers per farm), randomly obtained from 6involved farms and determined the prevalence and characteristics of so-called 'white liver spots'.