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Abstract
Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a neglected zoonotic disease with an estimated global economic burden of 3 billion US dollars annually and a documented prevalence of 1.04% among adults in central Sudan, where Genotype 6 — the camel strain — predominates. The established standard of care pairs surgical or percutaneous intervention (PAIR) with six months of adjuvant albendazole, a regimen that is expensive, technically demanding, and carries hepatotoxic risk requiring serial liver-function monitoring. A pilot study by our group in which six patients with hepatic CE were treated with albendazole monotherapy achieved a 100% cure rate at two-year follow-up, providing the rationale for a controlled trial. We present the protocol for the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of albendazole as sole therapy for hepatic CE Genotype 6. Ninety patients will be identified through a mobile-ultrasound survey of 12,000 adults in central Sudan and randomized 1:1 to albendazole or placebo for twelve weeks.
Keywords: cystic echinococcosis; hydatid disease; albendazole; Sudan; randomized controlled trial; Echinococcus granulosus; Genotype 6; PAIR; molecular genotyping
Authors: Mohamed Ahmed Ismail, MD, PhD
Affiliation: Zamzam University College, Khartoum, Sudan
Accepted: 29 September 2026 · Published: 6 October 2026 · Vol. 1, Issue 2 · pp. 9–11