Cystic echinococcosis due to Echinococcus equinus in a horse from southern Germany

• Published in: Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation 2010-05, Vol.22 (3), p.458-462
• Main Authors: Blutke, Andreas, Hamel, Dietmar, Hüttner, Marion, Gehlen, Heidrun, Romig, Thomas, Pfister, Kurt, Hermanns, Walter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; anorexia; case studies; cystic echinococcosis; disease diagnosis; disease severity; DNA, Helminth - genetics; echinococcosis; Echinococcosis - diagnosis; Echinococcosis - diagnostic imaging; Echinococcosis - veterinary; Echinococcus; Echinococcus - enzymology; Echinococcus - genetics; Echinococcus - isolation & purification; Echinococcus equinus; emaciation; emerging diseases; Euthanasia, Animal; Female; Germany; histopathology; horse diseases; Horse Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Horse Diseases - parasitology; Horses; hydatids; lungs; mares; microscopy; molecular epidemiology; NADPH Dehydrogenase - genetics; necropsy; pathogen identification; polymerase chain reaction; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Radiography, Thoracic; signs and symptoms (animals and humans)
• ISSN: 1040-6387; 1943-4936
• DOI: 10.1177/104063871002200323

In Europe, cystic echinococcosis is rare in horses and is mostly diagnosed at slaughter or postmortem examination. Equine cystic echinococcosis can be caused by various Echinococcus taxa, but only Echinococcus equinus (the “horse strain”) is known to produce fertile cysts. In Europe, E. equinus appears to be endemic in Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, and Italy and has sporadically been reported in Belgium and Switzerland. The present report describes the first case of a molecularly confirmed E. equinus infection in a horse foaled and raised in Germany. The 19-year-old mare was presented for examination of inappetence, emaciation, and respiratory symptoms. X-ray radiographs of the thorax showed 2 well-circumscribed tumor-like masses, each approximately 10 cm in diameter in the caudal lung field. The horse was euthanized as its condition rapidly deteriorated. Necropsy revealed 2 thick-walled hydatid cysts, each 7–8 cm in diameter in the lung. The tri-layered cyst walls consisted of an outer adventitial layer, a laminated acellular intermediate layer, and an inner germinal membrane. Grossly, the cysts contained a clear, amber liquid with hydatid sand. Light microscopy of the hydatid sand revealed free protoscoleces, intact and ruptured brood capsules, calcareous corpuscles, and debris. Samples of protoscoleces underwent molecular characterization, and the diagnosis of E. equinus was confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism—polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis of the complete mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 1 gene.