Éléments pour la cartographie écologique de l'échinococcose alvéolaire dans le Massif central (France): essai de délimitation d'un foyer

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Abstract
A centre of alveolar disease caused by Echinococcus multilocularis has recently been discovered in the Department of Cantal, France; we have attempted to define the limits of the centre of infection and to determine the main risk zones of propagation of the disease. The red fox, Vulpes vulpes (L.), served as a marker of the parasite. Ecological factors (floristic, climatological, and lithological) and parasitological results were compared. Ecological analysis was used to characterize 11 zones distributed among three stages of vegetation. Two zones are propitious for the life cycle of the cestode : beech series on volcanic soil and locally acidophilous beech series on metamorphic soil. The vegetation types may be used as ecological indicators in the definition of the distribution of E. multilocularis in France.