Dr. Murai Éva - Gubányi András szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 28. (Budapest, 1995)

(48.1%), Tg. Secuiesc (21.8 %) and Covasna (16.4 %). A strikingly high rate of infestation (50.0 %) was found in the 10 wild boars shot in the winter of 1982-1983 around Turia. The haematological values of these wild boars were also indicative of parasitosis (Table 1). The EH infestation of the other intermediate hosts was much lower: 1.9 % of 514 red deers, 6.8 % of 88 roe-deer, 3.1% of 32 bears had EH, and 0.45 % of 422 voles had AE infestation. AE infestation of 0.0015%» prevalence was observed also in the liver of cattle. Table 5 summarizes the EH infestation of game animals by organ and by type of cyst. Multilobular polycystic EH infestation has not been found. During our research (1981-1990) 638 human hydatidosis cases were recorded in three districts of Transylvania by the Institute of Public Health and Medical Research, Cluj, and 200 of these cases were found in Covasna County; 50% represented liver, 32%> lung hydatidosis, while in 15%> of the cases, the diagnosis of echinococcus metastasis was established. The affected people were mostly shepherds and villagers (Coroiu et al. 1992). The prevalence of taeniid infestation in 2,581 living dogs was 32.0% on the average, as revealed by egg counts in faecal samples. The shape and size of Echinococcus eggs do not differ from those of the eggs of other species of Taeniidae; thus, specific prevalence could not be calculated on the basis of faecal examination. To detect E. granulosus infestation 432 dead dogs were subjected to pathological examination between 1981 and 1990: their average E. granulosus infestation rate reached 15.4%. Adult worms mainly colonized the duodenum; they were found in lower numbers in the ileum and jejunum (Figs 5B-C). Dogs living around slaughterhouses revealed the highest prevalence rate (37.5%>), because these animals regularly had access to infected viscera intended for destruction and stored in containers in the yard of the slaughterhouses. Sheep dogs (22.8%), stray dogs (19.2%) and dogs living around livestock units (17.3%) also showed a considerably high prevalence of infection. As regards the regional distribution of infection, dogs in the zones of Tg. secuiesc and Sfintu Gheorge showed the highest prevalence (22.2% and 13.9%), which is not surprising as the two slaughterhouses of the district can be found in those areas. In 535 red foxes (V vulpes) necropsied in a 10-year period, neither E. granulosus nor E. multilocularis specimens were found. The 1,418 silver foxes (V. vulpes fulvus) examined also proved to be negative for Echinococcus spp.

, although they had been fed mainly on organs condemned at slaughterhouses. These data support the fact that foxes are not definitive hosts of£. granulosus (Sikó Barabási 199Id). Table 6 Prevalence of taeniid infestation in dogs as determined by the examination of faecal samples Dogs I II III IV V Total Stray dogs 416 96% 348 61 % 161 29% 32 87 % 29 14 % 986 14-96 % Slaugtherhouse dogs 18 40% 23 71 % 0 0 0 41 18-23 % Sheep dogs 16 16% 346 51 % 129 48 % 131 69% 21 36% 643 16-69% Hunting dogs 74 14% 86 26% 86 30 % 36 41 % 0 282 14-41 % Farm dogs 152 8 % 120 40% 73 28 % 46 21 % 0 391 8-40 % Watch dogs 23 12 % 40 14 % 14 18% 19 21 % 16 17 % 112 12-21 % Dogs kept as pets 66 5 % 39 2%j 6 3 % 15 2% 0 126 2-55 % Total 765 1 002 469 279 66 2,581 I = Sf. Gheorghe zone; II = Tg. Secuiesc zone ; III = < Covasna zone; IV = Etaraoit zone; V = Intorsura-Buzaului zone