New article: Echinococcus multilocularis and other zoonotic parasites in red foxes in Estonia

Laurimaa L, Moks E, Soe E, Valdmann H, Saarma U.
Parasitology. 2016 Sep;143(11):1450-8. doi: 10.1017/S0031182016001013. Epub 2016 Jun 9.

Echinococcus multilocularis in Tartu city, Estonia

Update.
Publications released in connection with this article:

• Plumer L, Davison J, Saarma U (2014) Rapid Urbanization of Red Foxes in Estonia: Distribution, Behaviour, Attacks on Domestic Animals, and Health-Risks Related to Zoonotic Diseases. PLoS ONE 9(12): e115124. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115124
• Laurimaa L, Davison J, Plumer L, Süld K, Oja R, Moks E, et al. Noninvasive detection of Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm in urban area, Estonia [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2015 Jan [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2101.140136

In an interview with Urmas Saarma (University of Tartu) in the Estonian newspaper Õhtuleht September 4th 2014 the sad reality about the dangerous parasite Echinococcus multilocularis in Estonia was discussed.

The dangerous parasite can be found in one out of three foxes in Estonia. The eggs of the parasite that can infect humans, has been found in 7% of the fox faeces collected within the second largest city of Estonia, Tartu.

Article:
http://www.ohtuleht.ee/593010/koos-rebastega-hiilib-linnadesse-kole-parasiit

In the Estonian section it is possible to read about the parasite in an article by Epp Moks from University of Tartu

Dr. Süld and colleagues recently published an article on zoonotic diseases, including E. multilocularis, in raccoon dogs.
Süld K, Valdmann H, Laurimaa L, Soe E, Davison J, Saarma U. An Invasive Vector of Zoonotic Disease Sustained by Anthropogenic Resources: The Raccoon Dog in Northern Europe. PLoS One. 2014 May 22;9(5):e96358. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0096358. eCollection 2014.

Official statistics on detected cases of echinococcosis in Estonia (Echinococcus multilocularis or Echinococcus granulosus - not specified) can be found in at the Estonian Health Boards homepage ("Nakkushaigused Eestis 2011-2013") or at the official reports from the European Centre of Disease Control and Prevention report of Annual epidemiological report "Reporting on 2011 surveillance data and 2012 epidemic intelligence data" (page 80).

An overview of faecal parasitological investigations in Estonian animals

Author: Brian Lassen

The data presented here is collected from the official reports of the Estonian Veterinary and Food Laboratory (VAFL) and presented using the Gapminder motion chart tool, which is available through Google Documents.

With this chart, we encourage you to explore the history of samples sent to VAFL from 2000 to 2010. You can adjust the X and Y axis to what you wish to observe and press the play button. You can mark specific animal species of interest and follow the development over time by clicking on the bubble or tick it in the side menu.

Different animal species were investigated every year. Faecal samples were investigated for different pathogens (parasites, bacteria, viruses, and fungi). One type of animal, such as "cattle", will make up a proportion of these samples and is represented by the Y-axis. For larger or smaller proportions of samples sent for diagnostics were faecal samples - this proportion is represented by the X-axis. The size of the bubble represent the number of faecal samples submitted that year from that animal. You can also alter the axis' to the sums by choosing in the pull-down menu.

As example, mark "Cattle" and run. Notice how the proportion parasitological faecal samples investigated from cattle make up a large proportion of the faecal samples every year, but with huge fluctuations. At the same time the number of samples sent for investigations from cattle increase over time, but the proportion of parasitological faecal samples out of all kinds of investigations in cattle do not pass 20%.
One interpretation of this is that cattle is seen as important compared to other kinds of animals (horses for example) by those who submit samples to VAFL for parasitological investigations. Still the number of submitted samples are not very large. At the same time the focus of cattle investigations switched towards other types (bacteriological). 

For exploring the graph try answering the following questions by exploring the interactive figure.

• Which animals are most frequently submitted faecal samples from? Does it change over time?
• Is it mainly small or large animals that are submitted to the laboratories? Does it change over time?
• Is the diversity of sample types (different species of animals) changing over time?
• Do the submission of samples from different animals reflect what you would expect for that animal group regarding parasites that could be detected in faecal samples?
• Are the number of faecal samples from different animals having large or small variations?

We remind you this is not research data, but simply what is submitted to the diagnostic laboratories in Estonia and should be viewed as such. Still, exactly what is being submitted over time tells interesting stories. We encourage to explore.