AJTMH ASTMH MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION: astmh@astmh.org
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 72(3), 2005, pp. 284-288
Copyright © 2005 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by SATOH, M.
Right arrow Articles by ITO, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by SATOH, M.
Right arrow Articles by ITO, A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Echinococcosis

SHORT REPORT: ECHINOCOCCUS MULTILOCULARIS CONFIRMED ON KUNASHIRI ISLAND, 15 KILOMETERS FROM THE EASTERN PART OF HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

MASAO SATOH*, KAZUHIRO NAKAYA*, MINORU NAKAO, NING XIAO, HIROSHI YAMASAKI, YASUHITO SAKO, YUKAKO NAITOH, SEIJI KONDO, MARI KOBAYASHI, NORIYUKI OHTAISHI, AND AKIRA ITO*
Department of Allergy and Immunology, Saitama Medical School, Saitama, Japan; Animal Laboratory for Medical Research and Department of Parasitology, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan; Laboratory of Ecology and Genetics, Graduated School of Environmental Earth Science and Animal Production System, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; Marine Wildlife Center of Japan, Sapporo, Japan

 

ABSTRACT

There are two foci of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) caused by Echinococcus multilocularis in Japan. The first focus is on Rebun Island where AE patients were found from 1937, and the second is in eastern Hokkaido where patients have been found since the 1960s. The origin of the second focus is unknown. To further investigate AE in eastern Hokkaido, wild rodents (Muridae) were captured and examined for infection on Kunashiri Island, which is located 15 km off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido. Metacestodes of E. multilocularis were isolated from two of 31 voles, all of which were identified to be Clethrionomys rufocanus. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing data of recovered cestodes showed total identity with the cestode reported from Hokkaido. These results suggest that E. multilocularis may have been introduced to Hokkaido from Kunashiri Island during or after 1965.

Received February 25, 2004. Accepted for publication June 8, 2004.

Acknowledgments: Masao Satoh, Yukako Naitoh, Seiji Kondo, and Mari Kobayashi visited Kunashiri Island through the program of Japanese and Russian specialists exchange without visa hosted by the Marine Wildlife Center of Japan (Incorporated Non Profit Organization). We thank Dr. P.M. Schantz (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA) for improving this manuscript.

Financial support: This work was supported by the Nippon Foundation, the Pro Nature Foundation-Japan, the Japan Fund for Global Environment, the Sonpo Japan Environment Foundation, and the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, and by a grant-in-aid for the Scientific Research sponsored by the Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (14256001) to Akira Ito.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors’ addresses: Masao Satoh, Department of Allergy and Immunology, Saitama Medical School, Morohongo 38, Moroyama, Irumagun, Saitama, 350-0495 Japan, Telephone: 81-492-76-1173, Fax: 81-492-94-2274, E-mail: satoma{at}saitama-med.ac.jp. Kazuhiro Nakaya, Animal Laboratory for Medical Research, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan. Minoru Nakao, Ning Xiao, Hiroshi Yamasaki, Yasuhito Sako, and Akira Ito, Department of Parasitology, Asahikawa Medical College, Midorigaoka-Higashi 2-1-1-1, Asahikawa, 078-8510, Japan. Yukako Naitoh, Laboratory of Ecology and Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Nishi 5, Kita 10, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan. Seiji Kondo, Animal Production System, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Nishi 9, Kita 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan. Mari Kobayashi and Noriyuki Ohtaishi, Marine Wildlife Center of Japan, 1-35-103, Nishi 6, Kita 21, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 001-0021, Japan.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2005 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.