By Steve Pointing (Wool Press)
Well- the very good news to come back from the recent Hydatid Survey is that at the time of collection of all the dog faeces samples (August 2012) all of those samples were negative (to be absolutely accurate at the time of going to press we are still awaiting the final result from one sample). This means that of the 543 dogs tested, none of them had an adult Hydatid tapeworm in its intestine in August this year.
The previous testing of all the dogs in the Falkland Islands took place in September 2010 (2 Years earlier) and in that survey we had 8 positive cases out of 568 dogs sampled. Five of those dogs lived in Camp and three were pet animals living in town.
So the results from the most recent survey are most encouraging and extremely pleasing. What has happened between the previous survey and this one? We didnt actually get the final results of the previous survey until March 2011 more than 6 months after taking the original samples. At the time we made the decision to change the dosing interval of all dogs in the Islands from every 6 weeks to every 4 weeks instead. This system started in July 2011 and has continued up to the present date so from July 2011 until now (December 2012) dogs will have been dosed 18 times. This increased frequency of dosing appears to have the desired effect.
What does this mean for future Hydatid control?
I really do think that we might finally have knocked this parasite on the head. There appears to be no adult tapeworms present in any of the Islands dogs at the moment and we havent had a positive tapeworm cyst in a sheep for the past 18 months.
Does this mean we can stop pilling dogs all together? Well I think it may be a bit premature although at some stage in the future that decision will need to be taken. In the meantime our proposal for 2013 is as follows:
1. January to June 2013, dose every 4 weeks (as now making 24 monthly dosings in a row) 2. July December 2013, dose every 6 weeks (as happened previously) 3. January 2014 resample all dogs and if still negative at the time seriously consider reducing the dog dosing frequency further still (Quarterly or Half-yearly).
The full set of dog dosing dates for 2013 are as follows:
Date (2013) Drug
Thursday, 03 January Paratak or Drontal
Wednesday, 30 January Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 27 February Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 27 March Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 24 April Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 22 May Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 19 June Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
After this six month period, we will expand the length of time between each dosing to six weeks dates as follows:
Date (2013) Drug
Wednesday, 31 July Paratak or Drontal
Wednesday, 11 September Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 23 October Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Wednesday, 04 December Droncit or Vetcare Tape Wormer
Date (2014) Drug
Wednesday, 15 January Paratak or Drontal
All dog owners are responsible for worming their own pets, but are asked to please call the Veterinary Office on Phone: 27366/ fax 27352 and confirm this has been done each time.
If after normal working hours, please leave a message or e-mailsbowles@doa.gov.fk.
With regard to the weight of your dog(s) it is important to keep a check on their weights to ensure the correct dose is being given. Dog owners are always welcome to call in and use our scales but we do ask that you phone first to let us know you are coming.
