Faecal soluble antigens from E. granulosus were detected using three different ELISA coproantigen assays: (a) the commercially produced Chekit Echinotest (Bommeli, Bern, CH) based on polyclonal antibodies against adult excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens; (b) a sandwich ELISA that uses rabbit polyclonal antibodies against adult E/S antigens and biotinylated monoclonal antibody EmA9 produced against adult Echinococcus multilocularis somatic extract (); and (c) a sandwich assay that uses monoclonal antibody EgC3 produced by immunization with adult E. granulosus E/S products ().
Questionnaire results reveal that on all farms home-slaughtering was done, and offal was used as dog meal raw (17 % ) or after boiling (37 % ), discarded in the trash (23 % ), or buried superficially (15 % ). Most farmers (69 % ) declared to deworm their dogs, but only 10 % used cestodicidal drugs. The coprological survey of 300 farm dogs using sedimentation, flotation and three different coproantigen (CA) ELISAs resulted in a faecal prevalence of 8.3 % for taeniid eggs, while the CA tests gave prevalences of 3 % (Chekit Echinotest, Bommeli), 6 % (EmA9 sandwich ELISA) and 10 % (EgC3 sandwich ELISA). Our results show that this is not only an educational problem, but also an economic one, stressing the need that future control plans should follow an integrative approach including veterinary and medical services, farmers, breeders?associations and the Government.