A Guelph dog owner is warning other local dog owners they may be at risk for picking up a rare and potentially deadly parasite – one that can be transferred from animals to humans.
Guelph resident Megan MacLusky’s dog, Bauer, has one of only four cases of echinococcos multilocularis, also known as the fox tapeworm, to be found in domestic dogs in southern Ontario.
“They can’t tell me when they think he got it. They just know he has it,” said MacLusky.
The tapeworm is typically found in the intestines of foxes and coyotes, and also affects small rodents. It is passed to other animals when they ingest the eggs of the tapeworm or when they eat infected rodents. When the eggs hatch, the larvae of the parasite can infect other organs, acting like tumours.
This is what happened to Bauer.
MacLusky, a nursing student, first noticed it back in June as a mass on his side. Her vet wasn’t sure how to treat the illness, so she was referred to the Ontario Veterinary College.
MacLusky suspected cancer.
“I was devastated,” she said.
Before the appointment with the OVC, Bauer collapsed, and MacLusky took him in for emergency surgery to remove cystic masses from his liver.
Weeks later, after the cysts were sent to Switzerland for testing, she learned that Bauer had a parasite that can be transmitted from animals to humans and has the potential to be fatal.
“Everyone who had come into regular contact with him got tested,” said MacLusky.
Thankfully, “no one else had it,” she said.
So far there have been no human cases found in Ontario, said Andrew Peregrine, an associate professor and researcher at the Ontario Veterinary College.
Peregrine is just starting a two-year study with one of his graduate students to try to discover how widespread the tapeworm is among wild animal populations in southern Ontario.
“How common is it? The reality is, we don’t know,” Peregrine said.
The first case of the parasite in a domestic dog in Canada was discovered in British Columbia in 2012, he said.
Since then, four dogs have been found with the parasite in southern Ontario. Three of those dogs have never lived outside of the province.
“We’ve suddenly started seeing these cases in a province that wasn’t supposed to have the parasite,” Peregrine said.
He described the tapeworm as “very, very nasty,” but said it takes a long time – five to 15 years – for people who have the parasite to become sick and start showing symptoms.
The parasite has not previously been a problem in Ontario, but it is a problem in parts of Europe, Switzerland in particular, Peregrine said.
“Most human infections in Switzerland have developed in association with infected dogs,” he said.
It is thought that the dogs pick it up by eating a large number of tapeworm eggs, which are excreted in the feces of foxes and coyotes.
Human infections also come from ingesting the eggs, which might be found on the fur of their animals, particularly if those animals like to roll in smelly things, as some dogs do.
MacLusky does not know how her dog, a five-year-old boxer that she’s had since he was a puppy, picked up the parasite.
“I moved out to Alberta a few years ago, so he may have picked it up out there,” she said.
But she wants people to know that the parasite exists and it is a risk.
Peregrine says the risk is fairly low.
“If your dog never goes outdoors or is always on a leash, then the risk is essentially zero,” he said.
But the fact that a dog in Guelph has gotten sick means there is a potential risk to other pets and it’s something people should know about, he said.
“Making people aware that we now have this parasite is important,” he said.
This is because of the public health implications. Veterinarians and doctors need to be aware to look for this parasite when doing their diagnoses, Peregrine said.
According to a report released by Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health in the fall, the recently diagnosed cases of the tapeworm suggest that it may now be endemic in wild coyote and fox populations in the region.
Because that means a risk to domestic dogs and cats, and possibly to humans, it is “of considerable public health importance,” the report said.
Human infection with the parasite is not currently what Public Health considers a “reportable disease,” but it is being monitored for consideration as such, the report said.
Designating it as reportable “would assist in the surveillance of this rare disease,” it said.
Getting rid of the tapeworm in the intestine is pretty easy with a deworming medication, said Peregrine.
But getting rid of the larvae once masses have attacked other organs can be a problem, he said.
“It really depends how big it is and how advanced it is by the time it gets diagnosed,” he said. “If you can surgically remove everything, there’s a very good prognosis.”
The trouble is, often once it’s diagnosed, it’s advanced. And if it involves too much of the liver, it may not be removable.
That was the problem for Bauer, who had a mass that would have required taking too much of the liver to remove it.
He underwent surgery on Friday to have the mass drained, and MacLusky is hopeful that with medication, she can prolong his life.
“I don’t want to give up on him,” she said.
Needless to say, the cost of Bauer’s medical care has been high.
MacLusky said she had spent almost $10,000 on vet bills by the time Bauer had come home from his first surgery. His most recent surgery was expected to cost from $2,000 to $2,500.
She has started a crowd-funding campaign to “save Bauer,” at www.gofundme.com/w4hsm5u8.
A few people have donated, and MacLusky said every bit helps, adding that she is as grateful for the positive comments and support she’s received as she is for the financial support.
