NATIONAL POOP SCOOP WEEK 2010

Thu, 15 Jul 2010

A trip to the park with the kids normally involves lots of fun but for one Ayrshire family a normal day turned into a nightmare.

Their young child partially lost his sight after contracting Toxocariasis – a horrible illness which can have very serious side-effects, especially for small children. The child contracted the illness after coming in contact with contaminated dog faeces, or soil contaminated with faeces, and became infected by the tiny worm eggs which live within the faeces.

Councillor Jim Todd, Spokesperson for Improving Community Safety said: “This is a really tragic case but one which could be replicated in any area or any town. People who don’t pick up after their dogs aren’t just lazy or inconsiderate they are putting our young people in real danger. It is easy for a child to pick up traces of infected dog faeces or contaminated soil especially when they are playing in a park. It is essential that dog owners pick up after their dogs and regularly worm their dogs to save any other children from suffering this terrible trauma.”

Notes to Editor

Toxocariasis is an infestation of humans, usually children, with the larvae of Toxocara canis, a small threadlike worm that resides in a dog’s intestine.

A dog harbouring the small round worm causes large numbers of worm eggs in its faeces, which can then contaminate the soil.

Children who then play with an infested dog or with soil contaminated with its faeces can then inadvertently put their fingers in their mouths and can swallow some of the worm eggs. The swallowed eggs hatch in the intestine of the child to liberate larvae, which then travel towards the liver, lungs, brain and eyes.

Children generally run a much greater risk of coming into contact with Toxocara in public parks where there is no guarantee that the dogs which are allowed to roam free there are all wormed.

Ends

< Back