Parasite Tapeworms Infect Humans for the First Time After Killing Moose with Dogs

Two moose hunters from New Hampshire, United States, became sick with rare parasite tapeworms found burrowing inside their internal organs after killing moose with the presence of their dogs, according to local reports.

Health authorities believed the hunters contracted the parasitic infection from the moose, which apparently ate the feces of the parasite-infected dogs.

The parasite's presence inside the human body was reportedly never seen before, highlighting the vulnerability not only of livestock animals but also pet dogs and its owners from such threat.

There were no immediate reports that suggested the hunters died from the infection, also called as cystic echinococcosis or the hydatid disease.

Moose Hunters Parasite Infections

Elizabeth Talbot, an infectious disease physician from Dartmouth Hitchcock Health and New Hampshire's deputy epidemiologist, told local TV station WMUR, that this is the first time that such parasite infections were identified in humans, as cited by Newsweek.

Known as the hydatid worm, hyper tapeworm, or dog tapeworm, scientists have identified the parasite species as Echinococcus granulosus.

It also belongs to the kingdom Animalia and a cyclophyllid cestode that spend their lives as adults in the small intestine of canids, which includes dogs.

The parasitic tapeworms used their host to lay eggs which can get excreted from a dog's feces, which are typically consumed by hoofed livestock animals, where the egg hatches into its larval cystic form.

The parasite larvae then attach to the organs of the host after traveling inside the body through the bloodstream.

The dogs eat these larval cysts when they eat the meat of other infected animals, which will kickstart the whole cycle again, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as cited by the online news platform.

Cystic Echinococcosis

The CDC stated that the parasitic disease cystic echinococcosis is caused by infection from tiny tapeworms of the genus Echinocococcus, primarily caused by the larval state of E. granulosus tapeworm which measures between two and seven millimeters.

These tapeworms are found not only in dogs but also cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep, which are its immediate hosts.

The US health body said that the most efficient treatment for the hydatid disease is surgery, while other methods are applicable like chemotherapy, cyst puncture, and PAIR (percutaneous aspiration, injection of chemicals and respiration.

For humans infected with cystic echinococcosis, the most common symptoms are discomfort, nausea pain, and vomiting.

However, these symptoms could take years relative to the growth of the larval parasite cysts, which are mostly found in the liver and lungs.

They can also appear in the spleen, kidneys, bone, heart, and even in the central nervous system, including the brain and eyes.

In relation to the New Hampshire parasite tapeworm incident, officials said humans are at low risk of contracting the parasite, but they can acquire it if their pet dogs come in contact with other animals like a moose, WMUR reported.

Talbot said that New Hampshire has been monitoring tapeworms in moose populations in the northern part of the state for several years, WMUR cited.