The recommended treatments were based on herbs like thymus vulgaris and raw garlic. Although echinococcosis has been well known for the past two thousand years, it was not until the past couple of hundred years that real progress was made in determining and describing its parasitic origin. The first step towards figuring out the cause of echinococcosis occurred during the 17th century when Francesco Redi illustrated that the hydatid cysts of echinococcosis were of "animal" origin. Then, in 1766, Pierre Simon Pallas predicted that these hydatid cysts found in infected humans were actually larval stages of tapeworms.A few decades afterwards, in 1782, Goeze accurately described the cysts and the tapeworm heads, while in 1786 E. granulosus was accurately described by Batsch. Half a century later, during the 1850s, Karl von Siebold showed through a series of experiments that Echinococcus cysts do cause adult tapeworms in dogs. Shortly after this, in 1863, E. multilocularis was identified by Rudolf Leuckart. Then, during the early to mid 1900s, the more distinct features of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis, their life cycles and how they cause disease were more fully described as more and more people began researching and performing experiments and studies.
The cystic disease may be drained through the skin, followed by medication. Sometimes this type of disease is just watched. The alveolar form often requires surgical intervention, followed by medications. The medication used is albendazole, which may be needed for years. The alveolar disease may result in death.The disease occurs in most areas of the world and currently affects about one million people. In some areas of South America, Africa, and Asia, up to 10% of the certain populations are affected. In 2015, the cystic form caused about 1,200 deaths; down from 2000 in 1990. The economic cost of the disease is estimated to be around US$3 billion a year. It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and belongs to the group of diseases known as helminthiases (worm infections). It can affect other animals such as pigs, cows and horses.Terminology used in this field is crucial, since echinococcosis requires the involvement of specialists from nearly all disciplines. In 2020, an international effort of scientists, from 16 countries, led to a detailed consensus on terms to be used or rejected for the genetics, epidemiology, biology, immunology and clinical aspects of echinococcosis. Signs and symptoms
In the human manifestation of the disease, E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, E. oligarthrus and E. vogeli are localized in the liver (in 75% of cases), the lungs (in 5–15% of cases) and other organs in the body such as the spleen, brain, heart, and kidneys (in 10–20% of cases).