On the transmission, biology and morphology of Echinococcus granulosus equinus, a new subspecies of hydatid tapeworm in horses in Great Britain

Abstract

1. A 12·8% incidence of hydatid infections occurred in 709 horses examined in England. By contrast, hydatid cysts do not occur in horses in New Zealand where Echinococcus granulosus granulosus is common in sheep, cattle and swine.2. Experimentally, scolices from hydatid cysts from English horses reached a gravid state in laboratory dogs. It was not possible to infect horses with E. g. granulosus of sheep-dog origin, and only one of two sheep became infected with two cysts following the ingestion of eggs of English horse-dog origin.3. Our observations, together with those of others on secondary hydatid cyst formation, indicate that the two types are not only biologically but morphologically distinct.4. In the horse-dog worms, the cirrus sac tilts anteriorly at an acute angle; the testes (about 35) are distributed throughout the proglottid with two or three rows posterior to the vitelline gland, and persist in proglottids when some mature eggs are present; the average length of the rostellar hooks is greater than in E. g. granulosus.5. It is proposed that the horse-dog material be named E. g. equinus subsp. nov.6. Rostellar hooks from cysts in British cattle resembled morphologically those from horses, while those from a British sheep and from man were like the hooks from hydatid cysts in man and livestock in New Zealand.7. A red deer, hedgehog and European rabbit were not infected artificially following the ingestion of eggs of E. g. equinus.Mr J. T. Briggs, Chief Public Health Inspector, Public Health Department, Bently, Doncaster, England, was responsible for the inspection of the British horses reported in this paper. We are indebted to Mr Briggs for this courtesy and for sending us fresh hydatid cysts from horses for experimental purposes. Mr N. Aitken was responsible for maintaining the experimental horses in an area of New Zealand known to be free of E. granulosus. Our thanks are also due to Messrs G. D. Page, D. V. Weston, Miss L. A. Duncan and Mrs B. R. Clarke for their able technical assistance.