Hydatidosis-echinococcosis in Greece

Hydatidosis/echinococcosis (Echinococcus granulosus infection) is considered to be a serious problem for both public health and the livestock economy in Greece. The present paper reviews and summarizes all data available on this disease since 1970. The disease was widely prevalent long before the 1970s. At that time the annual surgical incidence rate was 12.9 per 100000 inhabitants. As a result of the seriousness of the disease, the Greek Department of Veterinary Services initiated an anti-echinococcosis campaign in 1984. When the program started, the prevalence of infection in farm animals was 82% in cattle, 80% in sheep, 24% in goats and 5% in pigs. Data obtained in a survey in Northern Greece in 1994, recorded the prevalence of CE as 100% in sheep, 56.6% in cattle, 15.4% in goats and 9.3% in pigs; sheep had not only more cysts but significantly higher rates of fertile cysts (e.g. contained viable protoscolices) than intermediate host species examined. Serologic surveys (specific IgG) in humans carried out between 1988 and 1999 had shown seroprevalence up to 29%. Surveillance in livestock species, since 1998, carried out as part of an European Union (E.U.) project, have documented the prevalences of CE in sheep (31.3%), in goats (10.3%), in pigs (0.6%) and in cattle (0%). The official campaign against this zoonosis in Greece is ongoing. It is concluded that since hydatidosis/echinococcosis is still present, surveillance and intervention measures should be continued to track the course of the infection and to eliminate risk to humans.