Switzerland named hotspot for fox tapeworm disease

Diseases caused by the fox tapeworm are on the rise in Europe. Alveolar hydatid disease (AHD) caused by the parasite is rare, but the number of cases is increasing, according to a study. Switzerland is one of the countries most affected. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox For the overview study published in the scientific journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, an international research team determined the Europe-wide case numbers of this disease, a form of echinococcosis, for the first time. This was announced by the Medical University of Vienna, which was involved in the study, on Monday. The researchers analysed scientific publications, local disease registers, officially reported case numbers and unpublished reports from 40 countries for the period from 1997 to 2023. According to the study, the number of cases has risen significantly in recent years – in Switzerland from a handful of annual diagnoses in the 1990s to an average of 70 today. There is no ...