Tapeworm in Idaho years before wolves arrived
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho's wildlife agency wants to set the record straight: Tapeworms were in Idaho long before wolves were transplanted, and they only rarely infect people.On Monday, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game sent out a press release in response to a flurry of letters to local newspapers blaming the predators for introducing the quarter-inch tapeworms known as Echinococcus granulosus.
In fact, this tapeworm is endemic to most sheep-raising areas of the world and has been found in elk, mule deer and wolves in Idaho since at least 2006.
But they aren't new: Cysts formed by the tapeworm larva were found in domestic sheep from Idaho that were sent to California for slaughter in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Wolves relocated from Canada to central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in 1995 and 1996 were treated twice for lice, roundworms and tapeworms before being released.
On the Net:
For more info on tapeworms http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/manage_issues/echinococcus.cfm.
