HYDATID DISEASE

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1934, Page 11

HYDATID DISEASE

INCIDENCE IN DOMINION TARANAKI HOSPITAL RECORDS. PREVENTIVE MEASURES URGED. Recently the medical officer of health in Canterbury drew attention to the high number of cases of hydatid disease in that province, which, he stated, gave cause for some disquietude. Inquiry shows that Taranaki is not troubled grievously, but there are sufficient cases to make it desirable that the precautions recommended by the Department of Agriculture and Health should be taken. , Hydatid disease affects both mankind and stock (sheep, oxen, pigs), and its control is therefore of economic importance in New Zealand. It is caused by man or other animals swallowing the eggs of a small tapeworm (Taenia Echenococcus), which lives in the intestines of infected dogs. This tapeworm, which is less than a quarter of an inch in length, may be present in large numbers in the dog, and yet the animal may show no obvious signs of the disease. The eggs may get on to pasture, infecting sheep, pigs and cattle. They tend to cling to the hair of the dogs about their bodies and .xoses, and thus, if an infected dog is handled, or is allowed to lick the. hands, eggs may be carried on the fingers direct to a person’s mouth. Eggs thus swallowed by man or other animals hatch, and the resulting 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. HUMAN HYDATID DISEASE. Figures supplied by the Health Department show a wide variation in the number of hydatid cases in the hospitals of the Dominion. In the periods 1924-25-26-27 and 1932-33 at Christchurch there were 131 cases, Dunedin 63, Palmerston North 29, Wellington 27, Auckland 25, Napier 23, Gisborne 17, representing some of the chief sheep farming districts. . New Plymouth, was twelfth on the list with 14 cases, Hawera having pne fewer and Patea but three all told in those periods. It is considered that private cases would raise the number of cases by 20 per cent., and though Taranaki has no cause for alarm there is po reason why the number of hydatid cases should not be reduced considerably if the precautions recommended are followed. Although removal by operation is usually successful and recovery thereafter complete there is every reason to believe in regard to the trouble that “prevention is better than cure.” . Only a percentage of dogs are infected with this tapeworm. It is found chiefly in those 1 that frequent abattoirs and slaughterhouses and in sheep dogs. It is by eating raw offal of a sheep or other animal affected by hydatid cysts that the dogs becomes infected. On gaining access to the bowel of the dog certain parts of the inner lining of a hydatid cyst develop into tapeworms, which attach themselves to the dog’s intestine and produce eggs.- Thus the interesting-life cycle of this parasite is completed.' / To prevent the infection of dogs, do not allow them to eat raw offal. Keep them away from slaughterhouses and abattoirs. On the farm do not give them the offal of sheep to eat. The dog can be infected only if it eats hydatid cysts and in no other way. One dog cannot infect another dog. BEWARE OF'THE INFECTED DOG. It is now thought that man is infected most often by direct contact with an infected dog. Such habits as fondling dogs, allowing children to play with them, allowing them to lick hands or face should be absolutely forbidden, nor should dogs be allowed to lick dishes. It is also possible for the eggs to be conveyed on salads such as lettuce and celery which are eaten raw. Dogs should be excluded from the kitchen garden, and salads should be thoroughly washed. Kennels should be cleansed with boiling water at regular and frequent intervals, and all dogs’ excreta should be collected and burnt Every dog should be given a drinking water utensil, and his own supply of water. As regards hydatid disease in sheep and cattle, the source of infection is probably grass or from dose’ contact with infected dogs, as in the yarding of sheep, mustering, etc. “The economic loss throughout the Dominion from the effects of this disease upon sheep must be considerable,” states the Department of Health, “and when its combined effects upon mankind and stock are taken into consideration it is surely worth the while of every farmer and slaughterman to ensure that dogs shall not have access to raw offal."