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Abstract
Echinococcosis in humans occurs as a result of infection by the larval stages of taeniid
cestodes of the genus Echinococcus. In this review we discuss aspects of the biology,
life cycle, etiology, distribution, and transmission of the Echinococcus organisms,
and the epidemiology, clinical features, treatment, and effect of improved diagnosis
of the diseases they cause. New sensitive and specific diagnostic methods and effective
therapeutic approaches against echinococcosis have been developed in the last 10 years.
Despite some progress in the control of echinococcosis, this zoonosis continues to
be a major public health problem in several countries, and in several others it constitutes
an emerging and re-emerging disease.