Growth and development of Echinococcus multilocularis in experimentally infected cats.

Cats which were experimentally infected with the Alaskan strain of Echinococcus multilocularis showed a sudden decrease in the recovery rate after day 10 postinfection.The growth rate of the cestode in the intestine of cat is very much retarded as is evidenced by the slow increase in the length as well as the late formation of the posterior proglottid as compared to those recovered from dogs which were similarly infected to serve as controls.The ability of E. multilocularis to develop normally to maturity in the definitive host even after about three decades of passage in rodents in the form of secondary echinococcosis was also observed.