‘The wolf tapeworm’

[Northway]

It seems to make sense to warn folks to the extent that there is a risk. It's nice to know that Hantavirus is out there, even if the risk isn't high enough for me to alter my behavior other than making sure mice don't get at my food out in the woods.

Of course there are folks who want to blow the risk way out of proportion just because they'll use absolutely anything to vilify wolves......

[Special T]

If i remeber correctly your standard de wormer does nothing forthis tape worm... It requires a special dose that is on the expensive side something like $100 per dose...

[KFhunter]

Does MN have much for open range, or a cattle industry?


I wonder what the danger is that range cattle will become infected with the wolf tape worm causing the destruction of the entire herd?  (think mad cow)
Then the range area shut down permanently due to wolf tape worm contamination in the soil.

I know some of you would applaud this though 



hrm - something to ponder.

[JLS]

I wonder what the danger is that range cattle will become infected with the wolf tape worm causing the destruction of the entire herd?  (think mad cow)
Then the range area shut down permanently due to wolf tape worm contamination in the soil.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs377/en/

Like slim and none, unless Americans suddenly have a penchant for eating offal dog crap.

[KFhunter]

I wonder what the danger is that range cattle will become infected with the wolf tape worm causing the destruction of the entire herd?  (think mad cow)
Then the range area shut down permanently due to wolf tape worm contamination in the soil.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs377/en/

Like slim and none, unless Americans suddenly have a penchant for eating offal.

"slim and none" might be optimistic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23632259

[AspenBud]

If i remeber correctly your standard de wormer does nothing forthis tape worm... It requires a special dose that is on the expensive side something like $100 per dose...

I believe praziquantel and epsiprantel are the standard dewormers for dogs with this parasite. They are not that expensive.

If you can come up with the name of something else, I'd be interested to know.

[JLS]

"slim and none" might be optimistic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23632259

Maybe not....

Cystic echinococcosis is a preventable disease as it involves domestic animal species as definitive and intermediate hosts. Periodic deworming of dogs, improved hygiene in the slaughtering of livestock (including proper destruction of infected offal), and public education campaigns have been found to lower and, in high income countries, prevent transmission and alleviate the burden of human disease.

Vaccination of sheep with an E. granulosus recombinant antigen (EG95) offers encouraging prospects for prevention and control. Small-scale EG95 vaccine trials in sheep indicate high efficacy and safety with vaccinated lambs not becoming infected with E. granulosus.

A programme combining vaccination of lambs, deworming of dogs and culling of older sheep could lead to elimination of cystic echinococcosis disease in humans in less than 10 years.

It's not even remotely the same thing as Mad Cow Disease, and if it can be potentially eliminated in a third world country in 10 years I don't see it suddenly becoming a major conern in the US, given that it's been around for many years.

[AspenBud]

Does MN have much for open range, or a cattle industry?

Maybe you should ask them.

http://www.mnsca.org/

That would actually be interesting, not to mention their perspective on the parasite.

[KFhunter]

I'm not so concerned about people getting sick from eating dog crap as you so elegantly state;  I'm more concerned about infected flocks of sheep and herds of cattle being killed or range being restricted. I know cooking kills the worms, but what I haven't found is if an infected sheep is still able to be marketed. 


Well, it appears that sheep are still sold to market with Cystic echinococcosis.  I guess that answers that.  However what I did find was wide spread condemnation of "home butchering" of animals.   

I can see home butchering becoming illegal at some point in the future, or very tough to get the USDA stamp and Washington stamps for small artisan butcher shops.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

My main concern is regarding the potential spread of Echinococcosis granulosus (E. granulosus) throughout the west and onto rural residences and ranches by these wide ranging wolves that cross between states and countries on a regular basis and the failure of most agencies involved to adequately warn hunters and ranchers so that we can all take measures to protect ourselves

Good grief Dale, there have been tapeworms in Washington for forever. Most every dog that used to run free would get them. It's not like tapeworms are rare here and wolves brought them here. The tens of thousands of coyotes and raccoons have spread them to every place imaginable in the state and then there are the intermediate hosts like deer and elk and rabbits. Where ever they are there are probably tapeworms too. This might be the dumbest reason of all to hate wolves.

[RG]

I find it interesting that people on here are working so hard to make it sound like this tapeworm is no big deal, nothing really.  If it was stray house cats spreading it instead of wolves they would have a different point of view.  This whole debate just points out once again what a "special animal" wolves are to some people.  When I read this my conclusion is, there may have been some of these things around, but in 50 years of hunting, dressing, and butchering elk and deer, a portion of those years as a hunting guide during which my clients killed 8 to 12 elk and around 15 deer per year, I never heard of cysts in the animals. Some of my guiding was done just north of Gardiner in Montana and involved hunting elk from the Yellowstone herd.  Now that the introduced wolves showed up, guess what they are spreading.  Way to go wolf introduction folks, you get another gold award for your environmental stewardship.  City people irritate me.  By the way, in the middle to late 80's we repeatedly saw wolf tracks on the trails around Ramshorn Peak in Tom Miner basin.  We also saw wolves in winter chasing Bighorn Sheep on a ridge we called "round patch" on the south side of Tom Miner Basin.  I and the people I worked and hunted with have no problem differentiating between wolves, dogs and coyotes in case somebody brings that up.  Somehow nobody talked about that when it was time to reintroduce.  Politics and special interests again I imagine.  I wish they would use their money and political influence for something productive.

[bearpaw]

My main concern is regarding the potential spread of Echinococcosis granulosus (E. granulosus) throughout the west and onto rural residences and ranches by these wide ranging wolves that cross between states and countries on a regular basis and the failure of most agencies involved to adequately warn hunters and ranchers so that we can all take measures to protect ourselves

Good grief Dale, there have been tapeworms in Washington for forever. Most every dog that used to run free would get them. It's not like tapeworms are rare here and wolves brought them here. The tens of thousands of coyotes and raccoons have spread them to every place imaginable in the state and then there are the intermediate hosts like deer and elk and rabbits. Where ever they are there are probably tapeworms too. This might be the dumbest reason of all to hate wolves.

Good grief Sitka, the common tapeworm in dogs do not cause cysts on the liver, lungs, or brain. That might possibly be the least intelligent post you've ever made on this forum. As hound hunters our dogs are exposed to wolf feces every year as they track cougar and bear in wolf country, this is something to be concerned about. My son has a 2 year old child who pets and plays with our dogs. Echinococcosis granulosus is a far nastier and dangerous parasite than common tapeworms found in the creatures you mention! This is a valid reason to be concerned about the dogs and ourselves being exposed to these wolf worms on a regular basis. Anyone with pets or stock dogs in wolf country should have the same concerns, yet WDFW and other agencies have failed to warn the people of the dangers.

[KFhunter]

"slim and none" might be optimistic.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23632259

Maybe not....

Cystic echinococcosis is a preventable disease as it involves domestic animal species as definitive and intermediate hosts. Periodic deworming of dogs, improved hygiene in the slaughtering of livestock (including proper destruction of infected offal), and public education campaigns have been found to lower and, in high income countries, prevent transmission and alleviate the burden of human disease.

Vaccination of sheep with an E. granulosus recombinant antigen (EG95) offers encouraging prospects for prevention and control. Small-scale EG95 vaccine trials in sheep indicate high efficacy and safety with vaccinated lambs not becoming infected with E. granulosus.

A programme combining vaccination of lambs, deworming of dogs and culling of older sheep could lead to elimination of cystic echinococcosis disease in humans in less than 10 years.

It's not even remotely the same thing as Mad Cow Disease, and if it can be potentially eliminated in a third world country in 10 years I don't see it suddenly becoming a major conern in the US, given that it's been around for many years.

thanks JLS - that is positive news 


I've been kicking around having a small flock of sheep myself. 

[bearpaw]

I find it interesting that people on here are working so hard to make it sound like this tapeworm is no big deal, nothing really.  If it was stray house cats spreading it instead of wolves they would have a different point of view.  This whole debate just points out once again what a "special animal" wolves are to some people.  When I read this my conclusion is, there may have been some of these things around, but in 50 years of hunting, dressing, and butchering elk and deer, a portion of those years as a hunting guide during which my clients killed 8 to 12 elk and around 15 deer per year, I never heard of cysts in the animals. Some of my guiding was done just north of Gardiner in Montana and involved hunting elk from the Yellowstone herd.  Now that the introduced wolves showed up, guess what they are spreading.  Way to go wolf introduction folks, you get another gold award for your environmental stewardship.  City people irritate me.  By the way, in the middle to late 80's we repeatedly saw wolf tracks on the trails around Ramshorn Peak in Tom Miner basin.  We also saw wolves in winter chasing Bighorn Sheep on a ridge we called "round patch" on the south side of Tom Miner Basin.  I and the people I worked and hunted with have no problem differentiating between wolves, dogs and coyotes in case somebody brings that up.  Somehow nobody talked about that when it was time to reintroduce.  Politics and special interests again I imagine.  I wish they would use their money and political influence for something productive.

  I've been guiding hunters for years and never found an infected liver in Idaho, Montana, Utah, or Washington until recently. Now hunters are finding infected livers on a fairly regular basis. Here is an infected moose liver I recently found here in Washington. In time these cysts can grow as large as a fist. If they rupture they can cause death. If a predator kills and eats the moose then the cycle is complete. The predator gets wolf worms and then passes the tapeworm eggs in it's feces and more moose, deer, elk, dogs, and humans may become exposed to infection.

[RG]

Exactly, experienced outdoors folks know what they are looking at.  For these special interests to try to sweep this under the rug the way they are is an insult because it clearly shows they think we are all ignorant like their constituents are.  The problem is they know where to focus their message because the suckers and dupes who live in the cities believe them and then control the votes.  Thank goodness for states like Wyoming and Idaho who are willing to stand up and call foul when they communicate this drivel.  This tapeworm is not your basic tapeworm that we are all familiar with.  It is a big deal whether the uninformed are willing to do the homework to figure that out or not.