Author summary The paper presents results from a nationwide ultrasound (US)-based survey for Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) carried out in Albania. CE is endemic in the Balkans and is a public health issue in Albania. However, only data available on disease burden in the country comes from a hospital-based study. In the epidemiological context, US surveys of the general population have been used to estimate disease burden for CE, and to inform policy makers about disease burden. We carried out a survey in in twenty-three villages involving 3,710 subjects, and found a CE prevalence of 0.16%, with standardized estimates ranging from 0.02 to 0.21%. In this study we found both active and transitional echinococcal cysts, which suggests ongoing transmission of disease in the country. Our study shows that CE is present at a non-negligible rate in Albania, with an estimate of 902 (95% CI 138-1,678) individuals who might be infected with CE in rural areas nationwide. As the first US field screening on CE conducted in Albania, our data will be useful to policymakers and inform health agencies on the prevalence of this neglected disease.
Ethics statement
The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Our Lady of Good Counsel University (approval n 133; Tirana, 12 February 2020).
All participants signed the written informed consent form just before the study participat… [3531 chars]
Source: PLOS (Public Library of Science) | Published: 2025-12-02T00:00:00Z
Credit: PLOS (Public Library of Science)
