Human echinococcosis is a reportable disease in Kyrgyzstan. Between 1995 and 2011, human alveolar echinococcosis increased from <3 cases per year to >60 cases per year. The origins of this epidemic, which started in 2004, may be linked to the socioeconomic changes that followed the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.
Keywords: Alveolar echinococcosis; Central Asia; Echinococcus multilocularis; Kyrgyzstan; emergence; parasites; tapeworms; zoonoses.