Parasitic Time Bomb
[note: this news item is a side-bar to a longer article about changes in
disease transmission wrought by the Three Gorges Dam]
Quietly, an even deadlier parasitic disease as reached dangerous
proportions in China: hydatidosis. Caused by a parasitic work, the
disease is spreading across the Tibetan plateau and western Sichuan
Province. According to Weiping Wu of China's Institute of Parasitic
Diseases, at least 600,000 Chinese are currently infected by the deadly
disease, and an additional 60 million are at risk. "It is an epidemic,"
he says.
Humans usually contract hydatidosis via contact with the eggs of the
parasite expelled in canine feces. Among other symptoms, the parasite
creates liver cysts that, if not treated, result in likely death.
Because drug therapy is long-term and effective in only about 30 percent
of China's cases, prevention is the best medicine. The most effective
measure - culling infected dog populations - is not feasible in Tibet,
where the large Buddhist population strongly resists the practice.
Additional information. One Kham Aid team member, Mr. Asang Sangko,
when questioned about this said he has heard of hydatidosis and knows
some afflicted people in Amdo and Kham; yet he downplayed the
seriousness of this disease, saying that drug therapy is usually
effective in curing it. Washing your hands, he added, helps enormously
to prevent hydatidosis. Also, it should be noted that despite what
Scientific American says, wild dog populations are being kept under
control in most parts of Tibet, including nearly all towns and cities.
The largest and most dangerous packs of wild dog are usually found at
high-altitude grassland monasteries such as Tagong, Palpung, and
Sershul. In the past, the visitor needed to worry only about dog-bite;
now it seems that contact with feces is a danger, too.