Echinococcus granulosus

Sunday 1st January 2017
ESCCAP UK & Ireland News Item

The presence of the cattle strain of Echinococcus granulosus (Echinococcus artleppi) in Abattoirs across the country suggests a zoonotic risk outside of traditional Echinococcus granulosus endemic areas. While the cattle strain carries less zoonotic potential than the sheep strain, there is still some risk of transmission to people from dogs that consume offal from carcasses or raw food preparations. Therefore we would recommend de-worming these dogs with praziquantel at least every 3 months, and every 6 weeks if in high risk areas for the sheep strain such as Herefordshire, mid wales and the Western isles of Scotland.

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