Currently, ten genotypes G -G of Echinococcus Sensu Lato have been explicitly identified on the basis of taxonomic criteria. These include morphometric keys, host specificity, geographical distribution, phylogenetic analysis and genome mapping.However, a few emergent species of genus Echinococcus have been indigenously confirmed in some autonomous regions of Tibet plateau and Africa where there is little known about their biological aspects and potential pathogenicity in intermediate and definitive hosts. This chapter is focused on the parasite history, life cycle, phenotypic aspects, epidemiology, zoonotic potential and phylogeny relationship of two enigmatic parasites namely Echinococcus shiquicus and Echinococcus felidis. This aims to provide a better understanding of their taxonomic status, public health problems and biological features in the mentioned regions.
Keywords: Echinococcus shiquicus, Echinococcus felidis, Biological Aspects, Phylogenetic traits
. IntroductionCurrently, ten genotypes G -G of Echinococcus Sensu Lato have been explicitly identified on the basis of taxonomic criteria. These include morphometric keys, host specificity, geographical distribution, phylogenetic analysis and genome mapping. However, a few emergent species of genus Echinococcus have been indigenously confirmed in some autonomous regions of Tibet plateau and Africa where there is little known about their biological aspects and potential pathogenicity in intermediate and definitive hosts. This chapter is focused on the parasite history, life cycle, phenotypic aspects, epidemiology, zoonotic potential and phylog-© 2015 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Current Topics in Echinococcosis 78Afterward, based on taxonomic criteria including morphology, host specificity, molecular characters and geographical distribution was considered as a new species of Echinococcus [ ].The sylvatic cycle of E. shiquicus is supported by the Tibetan fox and the plateau pika as the definitive and intermediate hosts, respectively, which are indigenous to the highlands of Tibet Figure [ ]. However, E. shiquicus using copro-PCR and sequencing strategies has been naturally reported in dogs from eastern Qinghai-Tibet plateau region, China [ ].The adult worms of E. shiquicus are observed into two types. The majority of the samples included pre-mature and gravid proglottid which testes and ovary are placed in the premature segment while the genital pore is closed Figure A [ ]. The second type consisted of immature, mature and gravid proglottid Figure B . The number of segments in an adult worm is limited to three. E. shiquicus is readily discriminated from E. granulosus by its shorter length, length of hooks on the rostellum, branchless gravid uterus and anterior position of genital pore in the...