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hydatid disease
an infection, usually of the liver, caused by larval forms (hydatid cysts) of tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus, and characterized by the development of expanding cysts. In the infection caused by E. granulosus, single or multiple cysts that are unilocular in character are formed, and in that caused by E. multilocularis, the host's tissues are invaded and destroyed as the cysts enlarge by peripheral budding. Called also echinococcosis.

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