Farm dogs may spread ‘life-threatening’ worm disease
The parasite uses sheepdogs as its final host in its cycle.
A new study is set to investigate how interactions between humans and farm dogs could be spreading tapeworm across species.
The parasite, which causes the life-threatening hydatid disease, is endemic in mid-Wales, where it risks livestock welfare, farm productivity and human health.
The Echinococcus granulosus parasite uses dogs as its final host during its cycle, with sheep acting as intermediate hosts. In practice, the parasite lifecycle is sustained by sheep ingesting eggs from dog faeces and developing cysts on their organs.
Dogs can then become reinfected by scavenging or being fed infected sheep offal.
However, humans can also come accidental hosts to the parasite. The resulting infection is difficult to treat, leading to serious health complications or death.
As part of the study, the team will conduct fieldwork in agricultural communities across mid-Wales. Researchers will examine how human-dog interactions influence hydatid transmission and seek to understand where public health messaging has failed.
Using GPS collars, they will track the movement of free-roaming farm dogs and analyse faecal samples from farmland to investigate their diets.
Researchers hope that, by examining the interplay of human behaviour and environmental factors, they could devise more effective disease control strategies and public health interventions.
Keira Washtell, a researcher at the Department of Life Sciences at Aberystwyth University, said: “This research goes beyond disease surveillance - it’s about understanding how people live with and care for dogs, and how those relationships intersect with environmental and public health risks.
“By investigating canine movement and lifestyle and community perceptions, we aim to identify practical, locally informed strategies to reduce zoonotic transmission.”
Dr Andrew Nelson, a senior epidemiologist at Public Health Wales, said: “Hydatid disease, which can cause cysts in the liver or lungs, remains a significant public health concern. Symptoms can take years to develop meaning you cannot fully understand the risks to the public by studying human cases.
“This multidisciplinary research will help bridge this gap by elucidating the drivers of human infection in the very communities in Wales that are most at risk of hydatid disease.”
Image © SunflowerMomma
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