HYDATIDS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11833, 14 January 1933, Page 11

HYDATIDS

A PREVENTIBLE DISEASE

(Contributed by the Department-off

Health.)

Hydatids is a disease which-prevails especially in countries such -a3 New; Zealand, ,where man is brought in close contact with the dog. It is;a serious diseasg, for during the Ifist five years notification has been received of two hundred and seventy-two cases and seventy-eight deaths. Doping the last forty-one year 3 518 deaths have occurred from this disease in New Zealand. It should' bo remembered also that hydatid dis* ease, when not- fatal, usually necessitates a long period of disability ' and. enforced idleness, and that the indi* viduals affected are for the most part young men and women engaged, in. useful agricultural and pastoral pursuits. It- commonly dates back . t-o childhood, for hydatid disease may exist in latent form for twenty, years or more.

The disease is caused through man or other animals swallowing th& egga of a tape-worm, which lives in tha. intestines of the dog. This tape-'wornuy' ■which is less than a quarter of an. Inca in length, may he present in-larjgeß numbers in the dog, and yet the ani* mal may show no obvious signs of. the. disease. Eggs of the tape-worm are voided by the dog in large numbera in its excrement. After being passed, eggs remain alive for a long time, but they cannot hatch out and deve« lop unless tjiey enter a human, being or some suitable animal bv being swallowed.

Eggs may get on to pasture grass, infecting sheep, pigs, and cattle in water, which may infect man. or animals; or on to vegetables, which are eaten uncooked, such as salads, ■watercress, etc. Eggs cling to "tho hair of dogs about their bodies and noses, and thus, if an infected dog is handled or allowed to lick the hands or is fed at mealtimes, eggs may possibly be carried on the fingers direct- to tfie person’s mouth. Eggs swallowed by man or animals develop, and the parasites bore their way to some organ of the body—the liver, lung, brain, etc. —where they grow into bladders, or cysts, .which are called hydatids. Dogs become infected by eating portions of, an animal, such as liver or lights, containing hydatids. These hydatids contain many immature parasites which develop into tape-worms in the dog’s intestine, and such an infected dog becomes a source of danger to man and other animals.

' PREVENTIVE MEASURES. The prevention of hydatid disease can be readily secured by the' "destruction of all offal"(plucks) containing hydatids cysts. Dogs should not* be allowed to enter slaughter-houses, nor eat- uncooked offal. Drenching, with a suitable worm-medicine, three or four times a year, of dogs ‘which have to be used about abattoirs Sisamongst- stock in the country, Is effective in keeping these animals "free from tape-worm. " Dog kennels and areas where dogs are chained up should be scalded at intervals " with boiling water, which easily kills the eggs of the tape-worm. The excretaof dogs should- be regularly collectedand burnt. Ownerless and useless dogs fire often a" source of danger, and should be destroyed. Do not allc~ dogs to enter the house, play with children,-Kck the-hands -or- face, arm never feed them an one’s own meal time, nor from "utensils used by human beings. Prevent dogs from access to any water which is used for drfnking by man, and never drink any water'from unprotected ponds or streams unless it has "been ’ boiled.

Keep dogs away from kitchen gardens. If salads are required, wash thoroughly all such vegetables leaf by leaf in running water. It is safer to avoid salads from nnknown and unprotected sources. When the combined- effects upon mankind and stock are taken, into consideration It ip surely worth the while of every farmer and slaughterman to ensure " that dogs shall not have access to raw offal .

The only source of hydatid disease in man is a dog affected with these minute tape-worms. Alan cannot bo infected by eating the flesh of an animal that has had hydatids. Never let a dog feed on raw offal;.boil it first or otherwise destroy it. Those engaged in handling stock and dogs should always remember the special danger of soiled hands and always wash the hands before meals.