Echinococcosis

A Corgi came in for vomiting, lethargy, fever, and chest and abdominal pain.  X-rays were taken of the Corgi's abdomen and what appeared to be bubble wrap lined his abdominal wall. 

Every once in a while a unique case comes up that has the doctors' saying "Ah ha, I vaguely remember learning about this extremely rare disease in vet school!  Could it be?" And yes, it turned out to be Echinococcosis.

Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by the zoonotic Echinococcus tapeworm.  This unique worm requires two different hosts to complete its life cycle.  The intermediate host is usually a rodent.  Once ingested by the intermediate host, the eggs will hatch in the digestive system and enter the blood stream.  Blood will then carry the eggs to the lung, liver of brain, where they can develop cysts.  These cysts act as incubators for immature forms of this parasite.  These cysts can take over specific organs and eventually lead to death in the intermediate host.

Dogs can act as their definitive hosts, getting this parasite into their system by ingesting the eggs that are in feces of animals who have the Echinococcus tapeworm or by consuming the organs of an intermediate host that contain these parasitic cysts.  Once ingested, the tapeworm will make its way down to the intestines and begin laying more eggs, which will create more cysts throughout the abdominal wall.  These cysts (known as hydratid cysts) can be very painful and can cause an obstruction or pressure on neighboring organs.  One thing to be extremely cautious about with these cysts is the fact that they can rupture and release 'daughter' cysts throughout the body.

The doctor elected to take the dog into emergency surgery.  When the surgeon opened up the dog, we saw exactly what we saw in the X-rays, and more!  Hundreds of cysts throughout the abdomen were cut out and the body was flushed with saline, to make sure nothing was left of the tapeworm takeover.  To the right is a picture of the cysts the surgeon found on the dog's abdominal lining.  (Note, this picture is not from the surgery, just a picture of the cysts I found on www.cfsph.edu)


Recovery for the Corgi was long and uncomfortable-- I mean, imagine a surgeon going in and slicing all of these cysts off of your abdominal wall!  The dog was placed on a Norm-R IV with a painkiller and antibacterial.

The Corgi is now doing great!  He is back at home and happier than ever!

So, how might you minimize the risk of your dog getting this tapeworm? Simple, don't let your dog consume the carcasses of wild or domestic animals.  If your dog has been feasting on a carcass, you might want to talk to your veterinarian bout possible deworming techniques... just to be on the safe side.