Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/vprsr Original Article Genetic characterization of Echinococcus species in eastern Ethiopia Terefe Y. a , Addy F. b , Alemu S. a , Mackenstedt U. c , Romig T. c , Wassermann M. c, ⁎ a College of Veterinary Medicine, Haramaya University, Dira Dawa, Ethiopia b Department of Biotechnology, University for Development Studies, Faculty of Agriculture, Tamale, Ghana c Department of Parasitology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Cystic echinococcosis Echinococcus spp. Ethiopia Zoonoses Molecular identification Livestock ABSTRACT Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease with considerable economic and public health burden worldwide, particularly affecting developing countries like Ethiopia. To initiate effective prevention and control of CE, comprehensive data on the local lifecycles of the various species/genotypes of Echinococcus are needed. In the present study, conducted in eastern Ethiopia, a total of 1106 livestock animals were examined at three slaughterhouses, which resulted in combined prevalence of morphologically and molecularly confirmed CE of 8.4% (75/891) in cattle, 1.1% (1/95) in sheep, 0.0% (0/95) in goats and 12.0% (3/25) in camels. All cystic lesions recovered during post mortem examination were assessed for cyst condition and underwent molecular characterization by PCR and sequencing of a 1081 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cox1 gene. A total of 175 cysts belonged to E. granulosus s.s. (n = 165), E. ortleppi (n = 6) and E. canadensis G6/7 (n = 4). Of all examined cysts, only 14 were fertile and contained protoscoleces, all from the lungs of cattle: 5 were E. granulosus s.s., 6 E. ortleppi and 3 E. canadensis G6/7. In sheep, only one sterile liver cyst of E. granulosus s.s. was found, while in camels seven sterile or caseated/calcified cysts of E. granulosus s.s. and E. canadensis G6/7 were found in liver and lungs. In conclusion, the prevalence of CE was rather low compared to other regions of Ethiopia, and, based on the number of fertile cysts, three Echinococcus spp. contributed almost equally to transmission. Cattle seem to be, epidemiologically, the most important livestock species. Our data provide a substantial basis for more de- tailed investigations of the transmission dynamics of CE in the study area. 1. Introduction Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonotic parasitic disease of mam- mals caused by the larval stage (metacestodes) of the taeniid cestode Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s. l.). Dogs and some wild carnivores are definitive hosts harbouring adult worms in their small intestines and shedding the eggs with the faeces. The herbivorous or omnivorous intermediate hosts become infected via ingestion of eggs with con- taminated food or water. The development of cysts, which are localized mainly in liver and lungs, can cause severe pathological effects in the intermediate hosts. Also humans, as dead-end hosts, can acquire this disease when ingesting eggs (Kern et al., 2017; Romig et al., 2017; Thompson, 2017). CE is a major economic and public health challenge, particularly in developing regions with limited economic resources for management of zoonotic diseases (Cardona and Carmena, 2013; Budke et al., 2006). Annually, about USD 2 billion financial loss is imposed by CE on the livestock industry globally (Cardona and Carmena, 2013). Estimated annual global impact of CE in humans in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) is 1,009,662 in addition to a USD 1,918,318,955 monetary loss, whereas the financial impact in Sub-Saharan Africa was estimated to be about USD 5,176,229 (Budke et al., 2006). E. granulosus s. l. is globally distributed, causing high prevalence of animal and human CE mainly in regions with extensive and traditional livestock husbandry. This applies to many regions in Sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan (Romig et al., 2011). There are several transmission foci in Africa, that are usually geographically restricted and do not cover entire countries. Prevalence levels and presence of different Echinococcus species are very heterogeneously distributed, as is the resulting impact on animal and human health (Addy et al., 2012; Kagendo et al., 2014; Mbaya et al., 2014; Mutwiri et al., 2013; Omer et al., 2010). It follows, that the epidemiological situation in one part of a country cannot be extrapolated to others. In Ethiopia, numerous studies were performed on CE prevalence in live- stock, highlighting the central and western part of the country as a hotspot of animal CE in Africa (lit. in Deplazes et al., 2017). In contrast, only limited information is available from the eastern part of Ethiopia, which borders to Somalia and is characterized by very different cultural https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vprsr.2019.100302 Received 25 October 2018; Received in revised form 2 February 2019; Accepted 25 April 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Parasitology, University of Hohenheim, Emil-Wolff-Str. 34, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany. E-mail address: Marion.Wassermann@uni-hohenheim.de (M. Wassermann). Veterinary Parasitology: Regional Studies and Reports 17 (2019) 100302 Available online 26 April 2019 2405-9390/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. T