Echinococcus measures in Niseko Town

Echinococcus is a type of parasite and has two kinds, single envelope and multi-enveloped. The one that is a problem in Hokkaido is ecchinococcus with multiple envelopes.
Also, although adults (parasites) and larvae (parasites) exist, adults are mainly infected with fox (Kita fox) and larvae are infested in field rats (Ezodendorf).
Adults make eggs, but when that egg enters the mouth of someone on some occasion, it becomes a larva from the egg in the intestine, mainly infesting the liver, causing an illness called echinococcosis.
For details on Echinococcus, please refer to the page of Hokkaido Institute of Public Health.

Echinococcus is infested mainly in foxes and field rats in nature.

1. Adults infest the eggs in the intestines of the fox and their eggs are discharged with feces.
2. When a field mouse eats this egg together with tree buds etc., the egg will larvae in the body of the field mouse and will parasitize on the liver.
3. When the fox eats a field mouse parasitizing this adult, the larva becomes an adult in the intestines of the fox.

In this way, echinococcus usually lives in the relationship between "eating" and "being able to eat" between the fox and the rat.

We humans directly infest the wild vegetables and shrubs contaminated by eggs of Echinococcus and infect via the fingers to which the egg adheres, and echinococcus larvae infest the liver as well as the field rats.
Note: It does not infect people from people, nor infect people from field rats.
Echinococcal eggs are 0.03 mm diameter spheres which can not be seen with the naked eye, but can be prevented by infection with sufficient heating or washing (hand washing).
Even if a person is infected with echinococcus, subjective symptoms do not appear immediately, and after a latency period of several years to ten years, discomfort and fullness of the upper abdomen appear, gradually causing a rash with liver dysfunction and jaundice Symptoms such as symptoms appear, if you leave the lesion and brain lesions may be metastasized or life-threatening.

• Let's wash your hands when you return from outside.
• Let's eat wild vegetables and raw fruits such as Nayama properly after washing. Or, let's eat it after heating.
• Let's stop barking and calling a fox and do not touch the fox with cute hands.
• If food garbage etc. is badly managed, it becomes a food, and the fox will be brought close to us.
• Keep raw garbage properly and let's dispose of it.
• If you are using well water, let's manage lid properly so that fox and dog feces do not get mixed in.

Like a fox, a dog also infests echinococcus adults by eating a field mouse infected with echinococcus.
Those who have dogs need attention to their way of keeping (Do not let go unpopular).
Echinococcosis is a disease that can be prevented, early detection and early treatment are important.
Those who have never underwent a checkup in Hokkaido for more than 5 years and those who have not been screened for more than 5 years, especially those who have touched a fox or who have eaten a field mouse If you have an infection such as the owner, let's take a medical checkup (blood test) conducted by each municipality.
For more information on Echinococcus screening in Niseko Town, please contact the Health and Welfare Division Health Promotion Section.

For infection status of echinococcus, we take samples (fox of fox) and examine Echinococcus antigens and eggs at specialized institutions.
Niseko Town, the first sample (fox dung) was collected after the bait was sprayed in Niseko Town in October 2009.
As a result, we found that the infection rate was significantly reduced compared to the H20 test results before bait application.

• Antigen positive: indicates that the fox is infected with Echinococcus
• Insect positive: indicates that Echinococcus eggs are present in the fox feces