Nocerino, Martina (2025) Innovative strategies and tools for integrated control of cystic echinococcosis. [Tesi di dottorato]

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Abstract

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), also known as hydatid disease or hydatidosis, is a cosmopolitan zoonosis caused by the larval stages of the small tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.), and poses a serious threat to human and animal health worldwide. The life cycle of E. granulosus includes dogs and other canids as the definitive hosts of the adult parasite and a range of wild and farm ruminants (e.g. sheep) and humans as intermediate hosts. The economic impact of this infection on the livestock industry is multifaceted, affecting the quality of meat, milk and wool, reduced birth rate, delayed performance and growth, as well as post-mortem rejections of infected organs at slaughtering. The World Health Organization (WHO) includes the echinococcosis disease group (cystic and alveolar echinococcosis) as one of its 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). CE has a broad geographic range, but it exhibits the highest prevalence in communities where pastoral activities predominate, as in the Mediterranean area. The ongoing challenge in combatting CE lies in the need to map the baseline prevalence of infection in endemic areas, the difficulty in implementing effective deworming programs for dog populations in target rural communities, and the lack of adequate infrastructure and resources in remote or underdeveloped regions. In addition, ensuring compliance with the control programmes by local communities remains a major hurdle. The management of disease in animal and human populations requires a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach that involves stakeholders from the veterinary, research, and public health sectors. In order to support the development of sustainable and effective strategies to control CE, the present thesis entitled “Innovative strategies and tools for integrated control of cystic echinococcosis”, investigated the combined use of geospatial tools, e.g. geographical information systems (GIS), and other digital and electronic technologies to achieve three specific objectives: i) evaluation of CE prevalence in the ruminant population in the Mediterranean area; ii) development and validation of a GIS-based comprehensive strategy for deworming owned and not owned dogs in a pilot area in southern Italy; iii) investigation of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drones, for deworming stray canids in highly endemic areas.

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