Echinococcus multilocularis Infections in Golden Jackals in Serbia

Aleksandra Uzelac's dataset presents findings from a study of 122 legally hunted golden jackals in Serbia, examining their intestinal mucosa and feces for Echinococcus tapeworms. The data, last updated in April 2026, shows Echinococcus multilocularis was detected in 5.7% of the sampled animals, with two high-occurrence areas identified near Niš and Čačak. This work supports surveillance of an emerging zoonotic disease in the Balkans.

Use Cases

• Modeling the geographic spread of Echinococcus multilocularis based on infection locations mentioned in the results
• Assessing public health risk from zoonotic parasites based on infection prevalence near urban areas
• Studying host-parasite relationships in wildlife based on the detection of multiple Echinococcus species

Strengths

• Includes specific prevalence figures, such as Echinococcus multilocularis detected in 5.7% of 122 sampled jackals
• Identifies concrete high-occurrence geographic areas (near Niš and Čačak/Mount Zlatibor)
• Data collection method is explicitly described (PCR screening of intestinal samples from legally hunted animals)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• The dataset is small (27.6 KB), indicating limited scope

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Aleksandra Uzelac

Collection Method

Intestinal mucosa and feces from legally hunted golden jackals were examined via sedimentation, flotation, and specific PCR methods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 05:28:58; freshness should be verified

Geography

Serbia, with specific mention of areas near Niš, Čačak, and Mount Zlatibor