EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme(773830)
The neglected zoonosis cystic echinococcosis affects mainly pastoral and rural communities
in both low-income and upper-middle-income countries. In Europe, it should be regarded
as an orphan and rare disease. Although human cystic echinococcosis is a notifiable
parasitic infectious disease in most European countries, in practice it is largely
under-reported by national health systems. To fill this gap, we extracted data on
the number, incidence, and trend of human cases in Europe through a systematic review
approach, using both the scientific and grey literature and accounting for the period
of publication from 1997 to 2021. The highest number of possible human cases at the
national level was calculated from various data sources to generate a descriptive
model of human cystic echinococcosis in Europe. We identified 64 745 human cystic
echinococcosis cases from 40 European countries. The mean annual incidence from 1997
to 2020 throughout Europe was 0·64 cases per 100 000 people and in EU member states
was 0·50 cases per 100 000 people. Based on incidence rates and trends detected in
this study, the current epicentre of cystic echinococcosis in Europe is in the southeastern
European countries, whereas historical endemic European Mediterranean countries have
recorded a decrease in the number of cases over the time.
