ArticleParasite (Paris, France)2016
Could the domestic cat play a significant role in the transmission of Echinococcus multilocularis? A study based on qPCR analysis of cat feces in a rural area in France.
Article in Parasite (Paris, France), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential risk factors associated with human alveolar echinococcosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Pooled it
- Outdoor roaming of owned cats elevates risk of zoonotic pathogen exposure: A global synthesis.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Genetic diversity and genotyping ofFrontiers in parasitology · 2025Review
- What is the role of Swiss domestic cats in environmental contamination with Echinococcus multilocularis eggs?Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Epidemiological Survey on Gastrointestinal and Pulmonary Parasites in Cats Around Toulouse (France).Helminthologia · 2022Article
- Vector-borne and other pathogens of potential relevance disseminated by relocated cats.Parasites & vectors · 2022Review
- Assessment of the Genetic Diversity ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Efficacy of a novel topical combination of esafoxolaner, eprinomectin and praziquantel against Echinococcus multilocularis infections in cats.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2021Article
- Soil contamination by Echinococcus multilocularis in rural and urban vegetable gardens in relation to fox, cat and dog faecal deposits.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2021Article
- Importation of cats and risk of parasite spread: a Caribbean perspective and case study from St Kitts.Parasites & vectors · 2020Article
- First report of Echinococcus multilocularis in cats in Poland: a monitoring study in cats and dogs from a rural area and animal shelter in a highly endemic region.Parasites & vectors · 2019Article
- Survey of German pet owners quantifying endoparasitic infection risk and implications for deworming recommendations.Parasites & vectors · 2019Article
- Identifying drivers of fox and cat faecal deposits in kitchen gardens in order to evaluate measures for reducing contamination of fresh fruit and vegetables.Food and waterborne parasitology · 2019Article
- Genetic Diversity inFrontiers in microbiology · 2018Article
- Detection of Echinococcus multilocularis and other foodborne parasites in fox, cat and dog faeces collected in kitchen gardens in a highly endemic area for alveolar echinococcosis.Parasite (Paris, France) · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Echinococcus multilocularis, a cestode parasite responsible for alveolar echinococcosis in humans, is often reported in Europe. It involves red foxes, domestic dogs, and domestic and wild cats as definitive hosts. The parasite infects small mammals and accidentally humans as intermediate hosts and develops in a similar way to a tumor, usually in the liver. Domestic animals are suspected of playing a role in parasite transmission, but this is rarely proven. Moreover, the role of domestic cats is thought to be small, because of experimental studies showing incomplete development of the parasite observed in their intestines. In the present study, we investigated copro-sampling performed in a rural and highly endemic area in Eastern France, on carnivore feces (n = 150). From these samples, the parasite was detected and identified by DNA analysis using quantitative PCR targeting part of a mitochondrial gene (Em-qPCR). Taeniid eggs were isolated from positive-Em-qPCR samples by flotation, and species identification was confirmed by sequencing on DNA extracts. From a total of 43 copro-samples from cats, four tested positive for E. multilocularis by the Em-qPCR. In two of these, we found parasite eggs that were identified as E. multilocularis. This finding was confirmed by sequencing, while one dog stool out of 61 collected was found to be positive, no egg was detectable. At the same time, 34% of fox stools tested positive for the parasite. The present study challenges the current idea that cats are only of minor significance in the E. multilocularis life cycle.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.