HYDATIDS IN N.Z.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 154, 17 July 1937, Page 19

HYDATIDS IN N.Z.

Incidence "Alarmingly High" RECENT 1NCREASES TlieT© lias been a definite increase in the incidence of hydatid dieease in New Zealand in the last few years, according to a statement. by Er. W. H. Bothwell in an address to the Caaterbury Gun Dog Glub. Though the agricultural colleges had done excellent work in educating farmers about the disease, he said, the time nad come. when the Health Departmefit shouTd' use compulsion to prevent the spreading of. fhe dieease through infeeted offal. "Hydatid disease has occurred in Tnos't countries, but it is most commpn in thfe Argentine and in New Zealand, where it .has shown a definite increase in the' last few years. In New Zealand. Gaiiterbury leads easily;, followed by Otago, and the incidence in the South Island is.nearly. twiee that in the North Island. Tho disease can be expected wherever sheep and dogs exist. Nevortlieless, it is ra ro in the British feles, where niore than 25,000,000 sheep are pastured, and this is largely because of the better standards of public hy.giene, more careful meat inspectiop, and moro care exercised, particularly by farmers^ in the feeding of dogs." Wideapread Infeotion. Dr. Bothwell, explained that human Oeings were infeeted as la rule by eom» ing into coi^tact with.dogs, which were 'infeeted' with thp hydatid tapeworni. In a hnman being the worm passed the iutermediate stage of its life cycle, rt'hich was begun again in the formaition of cysts. Dogs were infeeted by being fed on the infeeted livers or iungs of sheep. • "It hag been found by investigation through the Department of Agriculture' that the proportion of infeoted sheep varies from 5 per cent. in lambs up tp 60 per , cent. ' and more in older sheep. That is, approximately 10,000,000 sheep in New Zealand have hydatid cysts. It is practical and obviously economical to. use the mutton after the affeeted parts, usually the livers, have been removfed. The efficient destruction of this discarded meat is of ' tremendous importance in the future spread of the disease. "Investigations reveal that 50 per cent. of sheep dogs in thie country carry- hydatid worms. Some investib'ations have shown as' high as 100 per cent. infection in eertain districts. Where farmers are better informed and carry out treatment .of their dogs, the number of infeeted dogs is relativcly swall. The town dog comes into a different category, and relatively few town dogs are carriers of the hydatid tape-worms. Nevertheless, some of them definitely are^ and one must be par^ ticniarly careful, pspecially with sporting dogs, that are taken for shooting in sheep country," Compulsory Measures. In 1934, thd forty-forth year of hydatid investigation in New Zealand, 105 cases were treated at ^public hospitals, not including cases treated privately or the great number of cases undiagnosed. And in the last three years the number had increased. "Hydatid disease has an alarmingly high incidence in New Zealand. it causes a serious loss of human life — the mortality rate as 15 per cent.— and tremendous economic loss to the farmer and the freezing companies. Its incidence could bo greatly lowexcd by completely destroyiug or boiling affeeted raw livers of sheep, and by eflicieut worming of sheep dogs, The oiily thing left for the Health Department to do is to briug in compulsory measures. Compulsion has been carried out in othor countries, and it should be adopted here, to prevent drovera and others from ieedinn: their dogs on raw offal." Dr. Bothwell detailed the following preoautious against the dieease; — (1) In I'ondling aiiy dog, ospecially country or sporfeiug dogs, and aftcr handliug sheep, always wash the hands before taking food; (2) salad vegetables and any vegetables ealen raw, especially when grown near a kenuei, should be washed in three separate waters; (3) never drink water from streams, especially in sheep country^ without boiling it; (4) water cresses gathered from such streams should be most carefully washed; (5) never let dogs feed on raw offal; if it is boiled for 10 minutes, the parasites within the eysts will be destroyed. Dr. Bothwell said that he did not wash to create any uunecessary sense of fear; but a more intelligent understanding on the part played by the dog in spreading the disease was urgently iequired.