Analysis of vaccination strategy against cystic echinococcosis developed in the Province of Río Negro, Argentina: 12 years of work.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a zoonosis caused by species of the complex Echinococcus granulosus, sensu lato in their larval stage. It is an endemic disease in the province of Río Negro, where small farmers generally have both sheep and goats. Lamb vaccination with EG95 was incorporated in 2009 with very good results: in fact, it contributed to a significant drop in prevalence of infection in both sheep and goats, when determined by necropsy and serology in 2018. In the design of the activity, it was decided not to vaccinate goats in order to minimize the operational requirements of vaccination and comments from producers about the rarity of observing hydatid cysts in goat viscera were considered. To identify causes which can still generate infection in dogs, and to detect species/genotypes in circulation in the province of Río Negro. In indigenous reserves comprised within the area of lamb vaccination with 3 doses of EG95, (dose 1 in December, dose 2 in January and dose 3 in December of the year following, at the time of application of dose 1 to the new lambs). Prevalence in adult goats and sheep was determined by necropsy and serology (ELISA). Infective species/genotypes present in the work area and in the rest of the province of Río Negro were identified by Cox1 mitochondrial gene sequencing. Epidemiological analysis was completed with surveys among farmers about slaughter habits for human consumption. Through serology and necropsy, infection rates in vaccinated and nonvaccinated sheep were significantly different (21% versus 66%). Non-vaccinated sheep and non-vaccinated goats were also significantly different in that there was less infection in goats compared to sheep (7% versus 66% for necropsy, 30% versus 61% for serology); After many years of sheep vaccination the infection positives were low, and differences between vaccinated sheep and non-vaccinated goats turned out non-significant (21% versus 7%). With reference to epidemiology and control along the period 2018-2022, PZQ dosing of dogs 4 times a year was maintained, and 2 extra deworming tasks were introduced together with dose 1 and 2 of EG95, performed by the veterinary vaccination team, ensuring the ingestion of PZQ by dogs. Assessment of animal slaughter for consumption in 41 producers showed that 21 of them slaughter a monthly average of 18 goats (an average of 0.43 goat per month per farm) and 36 in all slaughter 35 old sheep in a year (average of 0.85 sheep per month per farm). With respect to identification of species/genotypes as from 2010, genotypes G1 have been found in 11 sheep (out of which 6 belong to vaccination zone) and genotypes G7, in one pig. A goat cyst within vaccination zone turned out unfertile and it was not possible to sequence it. Design and implementation of a vaccine programme combined with the use of PZQ resulted as cost-effective, since it was possible to maintain the vaccine over time, with clear impact on prevalence decrease in sheep and goats.

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Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.