Mainland winning sheep measles battle
It appears that South Island farmers are currently achieving greater success than their northern colleagues in controlling Taenia ovis or sheep measles.
Michelle Simpson, project manager for the Ovis Management programme, said data for carcases processed across the country during October found 1.21% were recorded as being infected.
Ovis or sheep measles is caused by the Taenia ovis tapeworm. Although it poses no risk to human health, it can cause blemishes in sheep meat, which is undesirable for consumers and particularly for the export market.
"Usually, the prevalence of affected carcases sits at between 0.45 and 0.55 per cent and anything over one per cent is concerning," says Simpson.
"October was the first month of the new C. ovis management season and we do expect the figures to come down but we are also seeing it occurring from farms that have not had it before.
"It is really important that farmers keep up to date with regularly dosing all dogs on farm with the required tapeworm treatments and also ensure any visiting dogs or hunting dogs have been treated at least 48 hours before coming on farm."
The best practice for dog health and to manage the risk of sheep measles is for all farm dogs to be treated monthly with cestocidal (tapeworm) drugs containing the ingredient Praziquantel - a cheap and effective treatment - and an All Wormer every three months.
Simpson said there was no obvious cause for the spike in cases, but warm wet weather across much of the country had provided ideal conditions for the C. ovis parasite to thrive.
"Keeping to that regular dosing routine is really critical because the C. ovis tapeworm eggs can survive on pasture for up to 300 days," she says.
"It is not enough to dose your dogs and think 'that's it'."
Dogs become infected with the tapeworm by eating untreated meat or offal infected with live cysts. C. ovis is then spread to sheep through tapeworm eggs in dog faeces left in grazing areas. Eggs can also be spread from dog faeces over large areas, mainly by flies.
Raw sheep or goat meat should also be frozen to -10°C or below for at least 10 days or cooked thoroughly before being fed to dogs.
Further measures to control sheep measles include preventing town and roaming dogs from accessing grazing areas and disposing of dead livestock quickly and appropriately.
For more information and to view the C. ovis prevalence map showing data for all regions, visit www.sheepmeasles.co.nz
