Alveolar echinococcosis is one of today major zoonoses. Its infectious agent, the parasite E. multilocularis, is reckoned to be widely present throughout the northern hemisphere. Nonetheless its geographic distribution at a lower scale (continental or national) is hardly described.. In France, data acquired until the early 2000's showed endernic areas confined to the eastern territories and the Auvergne. Hitherto, the landscape described as most suitable for the epidemic cycle of the parasite consisted mainly of grasslands at a medium altitude (400m-800m) where vole's populations, the main intermediate host for E multilocularis, frequently reach high densities. Following the apparition of human cases in territories considered then free of the parasite, a wide screening protocol was implemented over the north-eastern half of France in search of the parasite. Following the gold label SCT technique, adult worms were isolated from intestinal contents of foxes, the main definitive host and major vector of E. multilocularis. From 2006 to 2010, 3518 foxes were homogeneously sampled over the whole ERZ territory (around 250,000km2) by night shooting and trapping. Average prevalence in each Department shows great disparities going from 0% to 52%. The discovery of the parasite in western and southern Departments as well as the increased prevalence in historic endemic areas indicate an under evaluated situation in France. Yet, it is too early to affirm whether our results show a geographic extension of the parasite or depict the increased effort of screening. Active monitoring is now the key to better understand the epidemiology of alveolar echinococcosis in France and to reduce the risk for humans.