First report of Echinococcus vogeli in a paca in Misiones province, Argentina

Fil: Vizcaychipi, Katherina A. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Departamento de Parasitología; Argentina.Fil: Helou, Marcia. INTA-EEA Cerro Azul, Centro Regional Misiones; Argentina.Fil: Dematteo, Karen. Department of Biology, University of Missouri; Estados Unidos.Fil: Macchiaroli, Natalia. Instituto de Microbiología y Parasitología Médica, Universidad de Buenos Aires-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET); Argentina.Fil: Cucher, Marcela Alejandra. Instituto de Microbiología y Parasitología Médica, Universidad de Buenos Aires-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET); Argentina.Fil: Rosenzvit, Mara. Instituto de Microbiología y Parasitología Médica, Universidad de Buenos Aires-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET); Argentina.Fil: D'Alessandro, Antonio. Department Tropical Medicine, Tulane U, Nueva Orleans; Estados Unidos.We report the first finding of Echinococcus vogeli in a paca, Cuniculus paca, in the tropical forest of Misiones, in the north of Argentina. The presence of the bush dog, Speothos venaticus, E. vogelís only natural definitive host, was also reported. The polycystic hydatids, 2 to 3 cm in diameter, were only found in the liver of an adult paca. The size range of the hooks and the relative proportion blade/handle did not show significant differences with respect to the ones reported for E. vogeli. The size of E. granulosus hooks, measured for comparison purposes, was significantly smaller (p E. vogeli in Argentina. The probability of finding neotropical echinococcosis in humans reinforces the need to expand the search for E. vogeli in Argentina. Echinococcosis due to E. vogeli is very aggressive and may cause death in about a third of the human population affected