Hydatidosis

From Scientific American, July 2005 issue, page 22

 

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.

 

Kham Aid note: Contrary to this article, stray dog populations HAVE been culled in most Tibetan cities including Kangding and most if not all of the county seats in Kham. Significant dog populations are most often seen in rural monasteries (especially Tagong), particularly at high elevations.