Identification of the Echinococcus (hydatid disease) organisms using cloned DNA markers.

Cloned DNA fragments of the ribosomal RNA gene of Schistosoma mansoni hybridise strongly to Echinococcus DNA following restriction endonuclease and Southern transfer analysis. Individuals within a strain of E. granulosus exhibit identical patterns of hybridisation. However, the hybridisation patterns show significant differences between E. granulosus and E. multilocularis, and between the horse and sheep strains of E. granulosus. This technique represents a powerful, additional method for the identification and characterisation of new isolates of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis.