NTD Intelligence

Echinococcosis

Neglected tropical disease intelligence: burden, staged therapeutics with published-evidence filter, and documented post-infectious syndrome with literature persistence rates.

Deaths / year
2,000
GBD (indicative unless refreshed)
DALYs / year
180,000
GBD
Pathogen
Helminth
Post-infectious
Chronic disease
Persistent symptoms
n/a

Post-infectious syndrome & persistent symptoms

Whether a post-acute infection syndrome is documented and the literature proportion with persistent symptoms.

Post-acute status
Chronic cystic/alveolar organ disease; recurrence after surgery
Classification
Chronic disease
Onset
chronic
Persistent-symptom %
not quantified as a single figure (see notes)
Source: WHO echinococcosis

Therapeutic agents by stage

Vector control, prevention, acute treatment, and post-infectious care. Only agents with published evidence are shown by default.

Vector & transmission control

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
Dog deworming & slaughter hygieneVector controlApprovedBreak Echinococcus granulosus cycleWHO

Acute phase

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
AlbendazoleAnthelminticApprovedMicrotubule inhibitor; cysticidal adjunct to PAIR/surgeryWHO EML / standard of care
MebendazoleAnthelminticApprovedAlternative benzimidazoleWHO EML / standard of care
PAIR / surgeryProcedureApprovedPercutaneous aspiration-injection-reaspiration or resectionWHO EML / standard of care

Post-infectious phase

AgentTypeStatusMechanism / roleSource
Long-term cyst surveillanceSupportiveApprovedRecurrence monitoring after treatmentWHO echinococcosis

Associated drug targets (Open Targets): IL21, IGHE, PRDX2, LGALS3, IFNG, INS

Burden: IHME GBD (indicative seed unless refreshed) · Therapeutics: curated WHO EML / SOC + Open Targets pipeline · Post-infectious data: curated peer-reviewed literature · Ontology: MONDO_0005738 · Updated 2026-07-10. Associations, not a diagnostic test.