Dangerous tapeworm in your pet could kill you

Echinococcus multilocularis is a tapeworm that is normally found in rodents and other wild animals, including coyotes and foxes, but can spill over into cats and dogs – and even humans.

As Sciencealert reports, according to Emily J Jenkins, Associate Professor at Veterinary Parasitology and Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, dogs, and sometimes cats, carry the tiny tapeworms in their intestines, where they cause no problems for the pet.

In humans, the tapeworm behaves differently. It can invade the liver and spread throughout the abdomen and the rest of the body like a tumour.

Without early detection and aggressive treatment (surgical removal of the mass and antiparasitic drugs), the infection has a 50 per cent to 75 per cent mortality rate, potentially higher in people with compromised immune systems.

The first North American case of the liver form of E. multilocularis in a dog was spotted in British Columbia in 2009. It has since caused severe disease in at least seven dogs in Western Canada and four dogs in Ontario, a new region for the parasite.

Initially, it seemed like the first dog had a particularly nasty tumour invading its liver, spleen and stomach. But a microscopic examination of the "tumour" revealed something startling – hundreds of miniature tapeworms in their larval form.

The parasite eggs are extremely tough, immune to most common disinfectants and survive months to years in the environment.

Dogs become infected with the liver form of the parasite, which can be deadly, when they consume the parasite's eggs in coyote, fox and wolf scat. Dogs get the intestinal form (harmless to the dog, but dangerous to us) when they consume infected rodents.

This means that dogs can be exposed in any place where you might find coyotes and foxes, typically rural areas, but increasingly urban and suburban green spaces.

Dog owners — and gardeners and foragers — should be concerned. Both dogs and people can be exposed to the tapeworm eggs in dog, fox, coyote or wolf scat. People can be exposed through consumption of contaminated produce such as berries, herbs, greens, wild mushrooms or surface water.

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