Echinococcus measures in Niseko Town

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Echinococcus, worried about human infection, has been confirmed to spread all over the way in the 1980s, and in recent years the infection rate of the fox which becomes the main host (jujubei) is as high as 40% It is said, recently worried about people infection through dogs.
While pretty Kita fox is an important tourism resource in Hokkaido, it is more required to deal with correct knowledge.

About Echinococcus

What is Echinococcus?

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.

Parasitic cycle of Echinococcus

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.

Echinococcus and humans

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.

Prevention of echinococcus

  • 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.

Please also note how to keep dogs

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.

Current status and measures of Echinococcus in Niseko Town

Disinfection of Echinococcus by spraying the Foxes' insect bait (bait)

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Disinfection of Echinococcus is done by spraying insect bites called bait along the road. The purpose of spraying the bait is to let the fox with the territory eat it.
By eating the bait, echinococcus is discharged from the fox's body. Even if you eat a bait, the fox will not die. Because a healthy fox protects his own territory, it will prevent intrusion of infected foxes in Echinococcus.
The bait mixes the insect medicine (Praziquantel) into the surimi of the fish. One size of the bait is an eraser large and smells of fish meal.
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 ベイトの散布は、「ニセコ町エキノコックス駆除対策推進員」(R5年度現在で14名)の皆様にボランティアでご協力頂き、2名1ペアで行っています。ベイトはニセコ町内くまなく廻るようにコースを設定し、道路沿いに約100m間隔に1つ散布します。犬や人間が食べても健康に影響はありません。
The bait is sprayed about 7 times in total from May to November at a rate of once a month. The number of scattering is about 1,300 times per time.
In about October we collect feces of the fox in the town (about 80), grasp the decrease situation of echinococcus infection and announce it to everyone.

Echinococcus infection in Niseko Town

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.
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  • 抗原陽性・・・キツネがエキノコックスに感染していることを示しています
  • Insect positive: indicates that Echinococcus eggs are present in the fox feces

Echinococcosis examination

Niseko Town, we are conducting an echinococcal examination.
For details, please see the following page.

Inquiries regarding information on this page

Health and Welfare Section health promotion staff
TEL:0136-44-2121
FAX:0136-44-3500