ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17613, 18 January 1929, Page 11

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.

HYDATIDS. MEN AND ANIMALS AFFECTED. (By Department of Agriculture.) Hydatids affect man and animals. Among the domestic animals those most commonly affected are sheep, cattle and pigs. These animals and man are infected through eating food contaminated with the eggs liberated from certain tapeworms of the dog, the main one being known technically as the Taenia Echinococcus. This tapeworm in the dog is the smallest of the tapeworms, and it may easily escape detection. The tapeworm attaches itself to the bowel wall of the dog by means of suckers and forms segments which, when mature, leave the dog per the excreta. These segments contain eggs, which may get into running streams and in other ways contaminate grass and other vegetables eventually eaten by animals and man. If the contaminated grass is eaten by animals, or if contaminated vegetables as lettuce, etc., are eaten by man, the result is infection of either with potential hydatid cysts. The eggs swallowed in the food hatch out, bore through the bowel-wall, or arc carried by the blood or lymph stream to certain organs of the body where the hydatid cyst or cysts form as a consequence. The most common organs affected with hydatids in animals are the lungs and liver. The muscle or flesh of the animal is seldom affected, although hydatids have been noted in the heart muscle. Small Pinhead Bladders. The hydatid as seen in the organs above-mentioned in animals has the appearance of a globular sac tilled with water-like fluid. If a careful examination of this sac is made, with the aid of a magnifying glass the lining of the sac will show a number of small pinhead bladders attached to it by a stalk, and these in turn, if magnified, may be seen to contain a number of small bodies. Each of these is in reality the immature head of a tapeworm, and is capable of developing into the mature worm on reaching the bowel of a dog. in animals the number of hydatids in the organs varies a good deal. In small numbers hydatids do not interfere with the animal’s health as a general rule, but if numerous may cause weakness and even emaciation. On the other hand, when hydatids are present in the human subject the trouble caused is often serious and may call for surgical assistance The cysts are slow-forming and vary greatly in size from a pea upwards. The danger to the human subject, and especially children, is therefore to be guarded against, and with this object in viewcertain preventive measures are here suggested. Prom the above it will be seen that the dog affected with tapeworms is the spreader of the trouble. Man and animals act as the intermediate hosts and carry the cystic or hydatid stage. The life-cycle of the worm responsible is therefore completed if the cysts are fed to,dogs. Break the Llfe-cyole. Any line of attack is therefore designed with a view to break down the completion of the life-cycle of the worm, and here the following suggestions are put forward to all dogowners. If conscientiously carried out by all owners the incidence of hydatids in New Zealand would be very

considerably reduced.: 1. Do not allow dogs access to uncooked offal from animals unless free from hydatids. Raw flesh is quite permissible. 2. Do not allow carcases of sheep to lie about the farm where dogs can get to them. All carcases of dead, animals should be either buried or burned. 3. Do not allow dogs to frequent country slaughterhouses in search of food. 3a. Do not allow pigs or other domestic animals to roam at large, especially near the dog-kennels. All Dogs Suspected. All dogs should be suspected as harbouring the tapeworm, apd whether the dog-owner is a the city or a sheepfarmer, he should dose his dogs for tapeworms every three months, after the dog is six months old. The following is the procedure: Fast the dog for 21 hours before the medicine is given. Give 2 grains per lb. body-weight of freshly-ground areca-nut. The dose will vary according to the weight of the dog from 10 grains to 14 drachms. In the small breeds combine a laxative with the above, giving a tablespoonful of syrup of buckthorn. With the larger breeds two .tablespoonfuls of castor oil. As the medicine acts quickly the dog should be confined and the droppings buried or burnt.

Tenaline is a proprietary preparation which is equally affective. It is prescribed in doses of from 10 drops to 120 drops, depending on the size of the dog. It is given on a fasting stomach with a little milk or water. It is recommended that the above preventive measures be adopted to prevent hydatids in animals. If at the same time dogs were not allowed so much freedom, fondling of dogs b> children prevented, never allowing the family dog to lick ihc hands or face, and all vegetables liable to contamination subject to thorough washing, the incidence of the disease in the human subject could be considerably reduced. Needles to say no feeding utensils used by the dog should be afterwards used on the table without sterilisation bv boiling.