The dangerous parasite attacks the north of Slovakia. From foxes can also be transferred to people – SME
Turiec is one of the most risky regions.
BRATISLAVAMartin. The occurrence of a fox (echinococcus multilocularis), which causes a serious parasitic liver disease known as alveolar echinococcosis, is the highest in districts in the north of Slovakia.
The most risky are the districts of Martin, Ružomberok, Tvrdošín or Prešov. Quite often, this tapeworm was also recorded in foxes in the High Tatras. Daniela Antolová from the Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) said this for TASR.
« More foxes are infected in these areas, and the most patients with alveolar echinococcosis come from there. The eggs remain infectious for up to two years in the environment, but they are most suitable for a cool and humid environment that is more typical of northern Slovakia, » Antolova specified.
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For a long time, the occurrence of tapeworm has the highest foxes in the districts of northern Slovakia, where it reaches up to 40-50 percent and in some districts (Martin, Ružomberok, Tvrdošín) even exceeded 60 percent. The expert added that the hot and dry environment of the egg is devitalizing, therefore the occurrence of tapeworm is lower in the south of Slovakia.
The parasitologist noted that in the case of alveolar echinococcosis in humans, it is not possible to talk about seasonal occurrence, cases occur throughout the year.
« Although it is likely that patients have been infected earlier in spring or autumn, the incubation period of the disease is very long and therefore ‘not’ patients appear continuously, » she said.
She recalled that the most common host of the fox tapeworm is the fox rusty, so large surveys were carried out in Slovakia, which examined more than 5,000 foxes from all districts of Slovakia.
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In dogs, the incidence of parasite is rare
Research, which was done by Martina Miterpáková from the Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, showed that the average incidence of E. Multilocularis reached 30 percent. « While on average, up to 1777 of the tapeworms were on an average of 1 to 245,000 tapeworms per animal, » Antolova said.
She explained that foxes and other carnivores would be infected after the eating of the infected intermediate host, which is most often small rodents. These form cysts on the liver, similar to humans. She stressed that dogs are rare in dogs.
« This is mainly because the dog can only be infected after the consumption of the infected intermediate host of the tapeworm. So if the dog does not hunt or does not consume rodents, it is almost excluded that it will be infected, » she said.
Alveolar echinococcosis is a rare but severe parasitic liver disease that causes the tapeworm. In the liver, it creates aggressive cystic formations that can grow into the surroundings and damage the tissue, even metastasize to other organs.
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One is infected after accidental ingestion of eggs, for example, when working with contaminated soil, after consuming unwashed fruits or vegetables (most often forest fruits) contaminated with soil containing a parasite egg.
