Co-occurrence of metacestodes of Echinococcus multilocularis and Taenia taeniaeformis (Cestoda) in Arvicola terrestris (Rodentia) in France

Abstract

In western Europe, the natural life cycle of Echinococcus multilocularis (Leuckart, 1863) involves mostly foxes, dogs and cats as definitive hosts and voles (Arvicolidae) as intermediate hosts. Studies on this topic are often restricted to data on prevalence of this tapeworm. However, until now, an association of E. multilocularis with larvae of another cestode species has only been reported from Rattus norvegicus in Japan (Okamoto M.,