The house mouse: a potential intermediate host for Echinococcus multilocularis in France.

An adult house mouse infected with an alveolar hydatid of Echinococcus multilocularis was trapped in the cellar of an inhabited house in a small village in Auvergne (France) where 3 human cases of alveolar hydatid disease had been diagnosed. The rodent harboured a young hepatic larval cyst. This indicated the presence of infective eggs of the parasite inside the house and outbuildings, an important observation concerning the circulation of the parasite in a domestic environment.