While the world is still battling the coronavirus pandemic, scientists continue to do their work in all sorts of fields, in addition to those related to COVID-19. Thus, a group of researchers has detected a new threat to humans That has started to be worrying.
It is a rare ailment of which a increase in cases, as they have alerted Canadian experts. It is the equinococosis alveolar (‘Echinococcus multilocularis’ or EM), a life-threatening disease caused by a A parasite that develops in the liver and causes serious health problems.
The alert about the increase in cases related to this disease was given by scientists from the Canadian region of Alberta. They explained that this condition caused by this parasite, whose origin is in Europe, is strange in humans, although it is expanding more than usual in the North American country, where no cases had been recorded prior to the 2010s.
17 cases identified in Canada
As detailed in the RT website, a investigation carried out in Alberta recorded a total of 17 diagnosed cases of EM in this region between 2013 and 2020. This is a surprising number considering that until then there was only evidence of two other cases in this area of the planet: one in the Canadian province of Manitoba in 1928 and another in the US state of Minnesota in 1977.
The strain of cases identified in Alberta comes from europe and had in the first instance a animal host, probably dogs that came to this region, according to research results from scientists at the Calgary College of Veterinary Medicine. These experts pointed out that, in addition to these domestic mammals, the parasite is usually found in foxes and coyotes.
This strange disease can affect humans by intake of microscopic tapeworm eggs by consuming contaminated food or cause of entering contact with animals carrying the parasite, as detailed by RT. As explained by the site specialized in rare diseases Orphanet, alveolar echinococcosis is characterized by a asymptomatic initial incubation period of many years followed by a chronic course in which clinical manifestations include epigastric pain and jaundice.
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