Second reported case of multilocular hydatid disease in Iraq

Abstract

Hydatid disease is an important zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution. In the Middle East, as well as in some other parts of the world, it has always been a serious economic and public health problem. The disease is endemic and enzootic in Iraq. In Iraq, the disease is caused by Echinococcus granulosus but a multilocular hydatid cyst of E. multilocularis has been recovered from the liver of a woman in Erbil, North Iraq. This paper documents the second case of hydatid disease caused by E. multilocularis, this time reported in Basrah, Southern Iraq.