CHINESE JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY AND PARASITIC DISEASES ›› 2024, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (3): 372-383.doi: 10.12140/j.issn.1000-7423.2024.03.014

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A brief cognitive and historical overview of Echinococcus and echinococcosis

WANG Xu1(), WANG Ying1, LIU Baixue1, ZHANG Kaige1, DENG Xueying1, SHEN Yujuan1, WANG Zhenghuan2, CAO Jianping1, HAN Shuai1,*()   

  1. 1 National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Chinese Center for Tropical Diseases Research; National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases; Key Laboratory on Parasite and Vector Biology, Ministry of Health; WHO Collaborating Centre for Tropical Diseases; National Center for International Research on Tropical Diseases, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200025, China
    2 School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
  • Received:2023-09-22 Revised:2023-11-02 Online:2024-06-30 Published:2024-07-16
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFC2300800);National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFC2300804);Research Project of Shanghai Municipal Health Commission(20214Y0213)

Abstract:

Echinococcosis is a kind of parasitic zoonosis that seriously endangers human health and economic development, which is mainly caused by the parasitization and development of the Echinococcus larvae in the intermediate host. According to current research advances, the globally identified Echinococcus includes 9 valid natural species, which can cause 4 types of echinococcosis. This consensus has evolved alongside the development of research methods and scientific technology over the past two thousand years. Therefore, this article introduced the whole process of human exploration, recognition and cognition of Echinococcus and echinococcosis by summarizing and combing references. The landmark historical event is that in 1801, Rudolphi established an independent genus of Echinococcus for this flatworm. After that, several species of Echinococcus have been found in the world successively. In 1953, Rausch re-classified Echinococcus based on biological characteristics and gradually developed the concept and classification method of subspecies for Echinococcus; in 1967, Rausch further proposed the concept of Echinococcus strains, which was confirmed in the 1990s by Bowles through molecular biological methods. In 2013, Nakao introduced the phylogenetic species concept, revising Echinococcus into nine valid natural species that are still in use today. In addition, this paper summarized the discovery history of Echinococcus and echinococcosis in China. Since 1908, five species of Echinococcus have been reported in China, including E. shiquicus, which was unique to the Qingzang Gaoyuan region. This article provides a systematic review of the historical understanding of Echinococcus and echinococcosis, summarizing extensive historical data to further comprehend the taxonomic research advancements of Echinococcus.

Key words: Echinococcus, Echinococcosis, Hydatidosis, History, Taxonomy

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