ANIMAL CYST INCIDENCE

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28493, 24 January 1958, Page 10

ANIMAL CYST INCIDENCE

South Island Survey A South Island-wide survey aimed at determining the incidence of hydatid and other cysts in domestic and wild animals was begun yesterday by the hydatids research unit of the Medical Research Council. For a month the unit will be working in the district from Christchurch to Nelson and thereafter it will be working for similar periods in five other districts into which the South Island has been subdivided Next killing season the survey will be extended to the North Island. “We will have to differentiate between the different types of cysts in the livers of domestic animals and apportion to each the economic loss involved," the director of the unit. Mr Michael Gemmell, yesterday As a result of the survey, he said, a little more would be known about the extent of the problem Working with Mr Gemmell on the survey is a technician of the unit, Mr John Howard, and two meat inspectors of the Department of Agriculture. Sheep are being, examined as they come into abattoirs and dogs are being given a pill which makes them purge. This material is then examined. Random Selection

“From this material we can find out how much raw sheep offal dog pwners are feeding intentionally or unintentionally to their dogs,” said Mr Gemmell. Farm properties are being selected at random for these investigations. He said yesterday that he preferred not to give details about the wild animals that would be examined in the course of the survey. Mr Gemmell expects that much of the information collected on the South Island survey will have been analysed by August. The hydatids research unit will be joined shortly by Mr A. Donald, a pathologist from Fiji who has been working on host parasite relationships. About the middle of the year the unit will also be joined by Dr. George Sweatman, who has been working on hydatids in Canada. He will visit Germany, Iceland and a few other countries to secure the latest information on hydatids before coming to New Zealand.