Research data indicates that 62% and 63% of the wolves tested in Idaho and Montana respectively between 2006 and 2008 were infected with the tapeworm (Echinococcus granulosus). While it is unknown if the transplanted Canadian wolves (a known carrier) introduced the parasite, or if the parasite which was previously undetected in Idaho and Montana was brought in by migrating wolves, or if the parasite was present and undiscovered in resident prey species. What is known is that even though the USFWS claim they wormed all the imported wolves before release, wolves in Idaho and Montana now have a high infection rate of Echinococcus granulosus and some prey species such as deer, elk, and goat in Idaho and Montana are also known to be infected with Echinococcus granulosus, so the complete life cycle of Echinococcus granulosus seems to be occurring in Idaho and Montana.

This Raises An Important Question:
Exactly How Can Humans, Pets, and Livestock Become Infected With Hydatid Disease?      

Livestock grazing in areas where wolves may have left egg infested feces may become infected. Anyone who lives, works, recreates, owns pets, and gathers food from areas where Hydatid Disease exists in wild animal populations bears a risk of infection. Hunters, trappers, taxidermists, veterinarians, wildlife professionals, ranchers, farmers, and others who handle animals in areas where wild animals are infected with these parasites bear a higher risk of infection.

Hydatid Disease affects people all over the world, especially those who work and live with animals. Humans can get infected by eating food or drinking water which is contaminated. Adults or children can become infected by handling animals without practicing a high level of hygiene during and after contact. Hand to mouth transmission can occur after handling an infected canine. (Canines naturally lick their anus and then lick other parts of their bodies, potentially spreading eggs onto their fur.)

This Raises Another Important Question:
Wolves Are Migrating Into Neighboring States From Idaho and Montana, Should Wolf Colonization Into New Areas And Overall Wolf Numbers Be Controlled To Prevent The Spread of Echinococcus Granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis and the threat of Hydatid Disease at least until more is known about these parasites and the impact Hydatid Disease could have in the western United States?

Read Supporting Data:

Hydatid Disease:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydatid_disease
Echinococcus granulosus:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_granulosus
Echinococcus multilocularis:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis
World Health Organization:   http://www.who.int/zoonoses/diseases/echinococcosis/en/

Journal of Wildlife Disease:   http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/4/1208
Center For Disease Control:   http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/html/Echinococcosis.htm
Health Protection Agency:   http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733825727?p=1191942169797
Canadian Medical Association:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1822812/?page=1
Overview, Transmission, Prevention:   http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/719/Hydatid disease 2007.pdf

17 Cases Diagnosed in Winnipeg, Manitoba:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094814/
42 Cases Diagnosed in Edmonton, Alberta:   http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/5/34
337 Cases in United States & Canada:   http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/25/1/107
Transmission:   http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=6B5E486F15B8C90917017A872BAE404A.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=209238
Amerian College of Chest Physicians:   http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/56/2/160.full.pdf

Wolves And The Spread Of Disease:   http://wolvesinrussia.com/
Distribution In Northwestern Canada:   http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/abstract/5/5/869  
Hydatid Disease In Boreal Regions:   http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic5-3-157.pdf
Outdoor Warning:  http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2009/12/10/a-warning-to-outdoor-users-about-echinococcus-from-worms/ Education:  http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2010/01/19/hydatid-disease-isnt-about-fear-but-about-health-and-education/
 

Synopsis Hydatid Disease:   http://westinstenv.org/wildpeop/2010/02/07/synopsis-of-wolf-borne-hydatid-disease/
Hydatid Disease Medications:   http://www.pharmacyescrow.com/pd678-s-hydatid-disease.aspx
Surgical Treatment Hydatid Disease:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2020668/?tool=pmcentrez Implications For Vaccine Development:   http://www.jimmunol.org/cgi/content/abstract/181/10/6679
Brain Hydatid Cyst Neuro-Surgery:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNWBo1toY0

Hydatid Disease Prevention:
Perhaps citizens and agencies should carefully consider the possible consequences of Hydatid Disease. According to information provided, the eggs of either parasite would need to be ingested in some manner for an animal or human to become infected. One difference is that foxes are common definitive hosts of Echinococcus multilocularis in the Midwest states and wolves are common definitive hosts of Echinococcus granulosus in the Western states. Consider this, if eggs of either parasite must be ingested to cause infection, and if infected foxes have been proven to be spreading disease to humans in the Midwest, then why would infected wolves not have the potential to spread disease to humans in Western states?

You can decide for yourself, but it appears that Dr. Geist’s warnings about Hydatid Disease whether from Echinococcus granulosus or Echinococcus multilocularis are definitely worthy of serious consideration . If you live near areas inhabited by infected wolves in the West or infected foxes in the Midwest, you may want to practice precautionary measures to minimize your exposure to these parasites until more specific details are known about Echinococcosis (Hydatid Disease).

1.   Wear plastic gloves whenever handling wild game, especially carnivores.
2.   Avoid exposure to infected feces, do not touch, kick, or disturb carnivore feces.
3.   Consider affects of livestock grazing on the ground in areas inhabited by infected wolves or foxes.
4.   Do not let pets roam freely in areas known to be inhabited by infected wolves or foxes.
5.   Obtain and use an effective dog wormer on dogs that may have been exposed to wolf or fox feces.
6.   Cook wild game well before eating.
7.   Do not collect or eat wild fruits or vegetables picked directly from the ground.
8.   Wild-picked foods should always be washed carefully or cooked before eating.
9.   Fence in gardens to keep out wild animals and pets.
10.  Do not allow pets to eat wild animal or livestock offal.
11.  Watch children do not touch pets which could be infected, children put their hands in their mouths.
12.  Use caution allowing pets in your home (any which could have had any chance of being infected).

Hopefully wildlife managers will take measures to protect the public safety and health from the dangers of these parasites, at least until more is known about the impact of Hydatid Disease. It seems irresponsible to encourage colonization of new areas by wolves which are known to come from infected areas. It would seem that everything should be done to prevent the spread of a known parasite that has historically established itself in endemic proportions in other countries.

___________________

The Truth About The Wolves
By Lynn M Stuter

February 9, 2010

There a secret, hiding in plain sight, that every American should know about.  Your life may depend on it.

In the mid-1990's, wolves were "re-introduced" to areas of the West under the auspices of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in accordance with the "Endangered Species Act".

I will digress here for a moment and explain why quotes are used around the word "re-introduced".  The word re-introduced means to bring back a species indigenous to the area from which it has disappeared or is in danger of becoming extinct. 

The wolf indigenous to most parts of the West is called the Timber Wolf or Gray Wolf (canis lupus irremotus).  The male of these species, on average, is about 75 lbs; the female is smaller as is usual with most species.

In hearing about wolves invading Idaho, which has the largest contiguous wilderness area of any state in the lower 48, I kept hearing stories about huge animals.  One gent told me that a wolf crossed the road in front of his pickup and stood as tall as the hood.  I rather discounted it as the proverbial "fish story" where the fish gets bigger with each telling of the story.  What he was describing was one big animal considering his pickup was a 4x4.

I would learn that he wasn't telling a "fish story".  The wolf brought in and turned loose in the Yellowstone National Park and other parts of central Idaho is the Canadian Gray Wolf.  If this article is correct, the species of wolf imported is the canis lupus occidentallis or MacKenzie Valley Wolf, a large wolf from Western Canada.  One website states that this wolf was imported from Alberta.  In searching, there is the canis lupus columbianus, a large wolf found in Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta.  Another, canis lupus griseoalbus, is a large wolf found in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  Whether one or more of these species, what is obvious is that they are not indigenous to the lower 48.

Males, on average, weigh 130 lbs, the females somewhat smaller.  These animals are huge, far outweighing any dog but the mastiff breeds.  Were they to stand on their hind legs, put their feet on the shoulders of most people, they would be looking down at them!

Let me be perfectly clear; the Canadian Gray Wolf is not indigenous to the lower 48 states.  To claim they are a "re-introduction" is not only misleading but purposely misleading.

That would not be the first or last problem with the "re-introduction" of wolves.

In a letter, dated October 3, 1993,  Mr Will Graves of Maryland wrote a letter to Ed Bangs, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Project Leader for the introduction of the Canadian Gray, in Helena, MT.  Graves, the

"author of “Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages“, has studied wolves for many years. He has traveled to Russia and surrounding nations to gather information, historic documents, etc., to learn more about wolves, their diseases and the impact these animals have had on humans for centuries. This is the basis of his book."  (source)

Graves' letter addressed the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) presented by Bangs.  In his letter, Graves expressed his concerns regarding introducing wolves to the United States period,

"I support Alternative 3, the No Wolf Alternative.

1.  Diseases, Worms and Parasites.  I was surprised that the DEIS did not make a detailed study on the impact issue of diseases, worms, and parasites (page 9).  I believe an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) is not complete without a detailed study covering the diseases, worms and parasites that wolves would carry, harbor, and spread around in the YNP (Yellowstone National Park) and in Idaho.  The study should cover the potential negative impact of these diseases on wild and domestic animals, and on humans.  I believe the potential negative impact of these diseases is a valid reason not to reintroduce wolves into YNP and to Idaho."

Mr Graves concerns, outlined in the letter, while very valid, were ignored, not only by Ed Bangs but also by the USFWS.

Everyone should read Will Graves' letter.  It is very important.  And what it makes so very obvious is that the American people have been lied to, if only by omission, about the reality of the wolves introduced which environmentalists would have you believe was a "re-introduction" of an indigenous species.

What are the "diseases, worms and parasites" spoken of by Graves?  Besides hoof and mouth disease, anthrax of a less virulent variety than the variety we are used to hearing about, Neospora caninum which causes late-term abortions in cattle, and an increased incidence of rabies, these wolves carry a parasitic tapeworm. 

When most of us envision a tapeworm, we think of the kind carried by dogs and cats and for which pet owners worm them and that are very visible in the scat.  This parasite is not of that variety.

There are two types of parasites, of the tapeworm family, that cause Hydatid Disease: 

1.       Echinoccoccus granulosus which causes Cystic Hydatid Disease that we are dealing with, in the sylvatic form, in the wolf population now.  Cystic hydatid disease grows large single cysts, unless there is multiple infections, in which case there are several cysts. Once cysts grow, they may burst in an active person, leading in some cases to instant death. It is also lethal if the cyst is growing in the brain. In some individuals, cysts calcify and are carried by the person infected with minor medical problems. It all depends where the cysts implant and how many there are.  Some claim the sylvatic form is benign.  Dr Geist disagrees.

2.      Echinoccoccus multilocularis which causes Alveolar Hydatid Disease.  This parasite is carried by rodents (especially mice) fed on by wolves.  This form has turned up in wolves in Europe.   The likelihood of wolves here carrying and transmitting the parasite is probable as the disease has occurred in both Canada and Alaska; it has also been diagnosed in patients from eastern Montana to Ohio.  Alveolar hydatid disease forms many cysts that bud off more cysts.  Cysts follow lymphatic or blood pathways infecting other parts of the body.  It grows and buds like a cancer.   It kills about 70% of infected people in 5 years.  Surgery without spilling cyst content in the patient's body cavity is very difficult to accomplish.  Some success has been had treating this form without surgery.

Both forms of this disease are dangerous to humans.

Echinoccoccus granulosus has been found in two-thirds of wolf carcasses examined in Idaho.  From the wolf, the parasite is spread to other warm blooded animals, mostly through contact with dried wolf scat in the wild. 

Infection of ungulates (hoofed animals) is obviously through air currents spreading the eggs to grass and surrounding vegetation that ungulates eat.  A dog, sniffing the dried scat of a wolf, as dogs do with the scat of any animal, is sufficient to cause the eggs to go airborne, infecting the dog's nostrils, mouth and getting on the fur where they can be transmitted to anyone handling or petting the dog.

Any warm-blooded animal, wild or domestic, large or small, is susceptible as are humans.

How easy is it to contract the parasite that causes the disease?  If you listen to the USFWS field biologists, and pro-wolf advocates, not very.  Biologists and scientists not on the government payroll, however, say otherwise.  The Centers for Disease Control has issued a warning about the disease.

Dr Val Geist, Professional Biologist, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science, University of Calgary, in an e-mail to a concerned citizen, had this to say,

It is well known that domestic dogs play a very large risk factor in hydatid disease. Unlike in Northern Canada or Alaska, in the West one is dealing with much greater densities of people, dogs and carrier species such as deer or elk. High incidents of the parasite in wolves and coyotes and a high infestation rate with cysts in lungs and liver of deer and elk, put at risk the ranching, farming and rural communities. In winter time deer and elk will frequently be found on ranches close to communities. Dogs from ranches, farms and hamlets will have access to winter killed carcasses of deer and elk as well as to offal left in the field during the hunting season. Once infected with dog tape worm, the ranch and house dogs will contaminate the yard, porches, living rooms etc with hydatid eggs. There is no escape from this! Ten to twenty years down the road, hydatid disease will raise its head, in particular in persons who as toddlers crawled over floors walked over by people and dogs carrying in hydatid eggs from the outside. Please inform yourself what this is likely to mean in terms of prognosis, suffering and costs!

What does Dr Geist suggest, in dealing with the probability of coming in contact with infected animals?

"1.) Assuming the number of wolf packs can be reduced so as to retain a vibrant, abundant prey base, that developmental studies proceed on how to create bait stations that are accepted by wolves, with bait containing anti-helminthic drugs that are readily eaten by wolves. I am aware that this will not be a quick project. Rather I expect that wolves will accept bait stations, let alone the bait, only very gradually. It will take time, experimentation and sophisticated know how to make bait stations operational. However, once accepted by wolves, the bait stations will break the hydatid cycle between wolves and ungulates. Over time, this will lead to diminished infections of deer and elk, and this with re-infection with the parasite by wolves and coyotes.

2.) Unfortunately, under moist and cold conditions hydatid eggs remain viable for months and may even infect after three and a half years. Under dry, hot conditions the eggs die quickly. Burning the under story in forests will not eliminate the dangers from hydatid eggs, but will certainly reduce such. It's a policy worth looking at.

3.) Simultaneously, a thorough campaign must be initiated to regularly de-worm dogs in danger areas as well as encourage specific hygienic measures. Here it means winning the ears and the trust of the rural communities."

What are anti-helminthic drugs?  They are medications that rid the animal of parasitic worms.  Under this classification, there are different types of drugs depending on the parasite.

Dr Geist closed his e-mail to the concerned citizen as follows:

"Wolves have been exterminated from lived in landscapes universally because they, or their diseases, posed a serious threat to affected people, livestock and wild life. The lessons from history are that we can at best live with wolves if such are relatively few, the abundance of natural prey is high, and the risk from diseases non-existent."

Was this disease in the lower 48 before the introduction of the Canadian Gray Wolf?  Previous to the introduction of this wolf, the parasite was seldom found in the lower 48 among the coyote and fox population.

That is no longer the case and the disease is now a threat, especially if the people now subjected to the growing wolf population and habitat are unaware of its presence, and especially as there is no indication that anything is being done to eradicate it.

Did the government know the concerns about diseases carried by wolves before the Canadian Gray Wolf was introduced?  Considering the letter of Graves to Bangs in 1993, they obviously did. 

And quite obviously, in total disregard for the health and well-being of the American people, the U.S. Government introduced the wolf on behalf of radical environmental groups. 

And the government wonders why people have trust issues.

Another problem is that these wolves are predators of a different sort.  As opposed to other predators like cougar and bear that kill for food, the Canadian Gray Wolf kills indiscriminately—they kill for sport; they kill because the animal is there and convenient; they kill because they want to.

There is a website, on the internet, that people who think these wolves are just harmless, nice little puppy-dog-like creatures should visit.  That website is SaveElk.  Right there, on the home page, is the picture of a man holding the head of an elk after wolves brought her down and ripped the fetus she carried from her body.  She was then left to die and died, obviously traumatized, in the man's arms.

On that website, you will see picture after picture of cow elk from which wolves ripped the fetus and left the cow to die.  The decimation of the ungulate populations in Idaho is well under way.  This is the reality of wolves.  Go here to see how vast the wolf activity is in Idaho.

Also there, on the home page, is the picture of the remains of a Black Labrador Retriever.  The owner reached that dog within minutes of the wolf attack.  All that was left was the head and spine!  How would you like to find your beloved family pet like that?  Would you want your children to see that?

Wolves kill for sport, often bringing an animal down, mauling it, ripping the gut open, then leaving the animal to die a slow, torturous death.  This picture (used with permission) is of one such kill.  That this animal died a slow death is apparent from the blood pool around it; the animal slowly bled out.  There are animal carcasses, just like this one, spread all over the Idaho Wilderness area.

Another known fact about wolves that the pro-wolf advocates don't want people to know is that wolves do not necessarily kill their prey before feeding on it!  Here is a picture of a deer, still alive, her back quarters mangled beyond recovery, as the wolf walks away.  That deer obviously died as slow and as torturous a death as the elk pictured here.

The Canadian Gray Wolf is driving the coyotes, foxes and native wolf out of areas they take over for the simple reason that if they remain, the Canadian Gray Wolf will kill them.  The same is true of the cougar, bobcat, lynx, wolverine, bear and other predatory animal populations.

Timber Wolves, indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, are now truly endangered; a fact which the pro-wolf advocates are not concerned about, making it obvious that their agenda has nothing to do with restoring an "endangered" species.  Pro-wolf advocates have made it clear that implementing a radical environmental agenda is the sole goal of their efforts; that "wolf recovery" has been a fraud from the start. 

One rabid pro-wolf advocate filed a freedom of information request on the Idaho Fish and Game Department, to acquire the names of all who filled their legally obtained, and paid for, wolf tag in 2009.  That individual then posted those names on a website that masked his identity.  But, being unable to contain his glee at having done this, he then took out an ad in the local newspaper, pointing people to the website where he listed the names.  While he claimed his actions were not intended to incite harassment, he was also quoted as saying,

"They're paying for the privilege to use a resource that belongs to all of us … They've made a conscious decision to do something that other people in this state disapprove of."

But he didn't intend to incite harassment?  Really?

Did this pro-wolf advocate request of the Idaho Fish and Game Department to know who all had filled tags to legally hunt deer, elk, moose and bear?  After all, there might be those who "disapprove" of hunting those, too; and aren't deer, elk, moose and bear just as much (if not more) a "resource" as wolves?

This individual, who would have you believe he didn't do this to incite harassment, did not, however, request that information.   Quite obviously, his agenda has nothing to do with conservation, the eco-system, or the environment.  If he did, he would care about the decimation of Idaho ungulate populations by wolves.

Like Al Gore and his "global warming" agenda based on pseudo-science, on which he has made millions, the pro-wolf advocates have an agenda which is about money and control, just like global warming is.

I've heard a lot of people compare wolves to those nice little neighborhood puppy dogs.  The number of people who have been attacked by wolves is growing.  The number who have been killed is also growing.  In his letter to Bangs, Graves pointed out that people in certain parts of Siberia do not venture outside at night because, if they do, their odds of being attacked by a wolf are substantial.  Here is part of an e-mail from a Washingtonian,

"I can tell you I have had firsthand experience with these wolves in Washington, we have had them looking in our house windows, they have killed deer within a 100 yards of our house, I have shot at them to scare them off and they turn and lope right at me going past me at 50 yards. These wolves are not afraid of people and they are huge. We don’t go out at night to let the dogs pee without taking a big flashlight and gun, I spend many nights at the barns watching out for our stock when the wolves are in close to us. One of the reasons that the wolf diseases will spread and be easy to come in contact with will be that there is too high of a population of wolves."

If a Canadian Gray Wolf can crush the rib bones of a deer, just how safe do you truly believe you are if you come face to face with this predator without the means to defend yourself?  If three wolves are not afraid to take on the majestic Grizzly, do you think they are afraid to take you on?

What chances do you have of surviving Hydatid Disease if contracted?  Do you really believe that, once it invades the population, it will be given the same attention as, say, AIDs?

The bottom line here is that the American people have been, and are being, lied to about the wolf and the introduction of it to the lower 48 states.  That they are being lied to is pretty good indication that the real agenda is other than the one presented.

Get informed, get involved.  Save our country for our people, not the rabid, radical environmentalists who have a goal that has nothing to do with freedom, liberty or justice but everything to do with money and control.

Credit for much of the material used in this article goes to SaveElk.com who has done a tremendous job of bringing a lot of information together that tells a story counter to the one people are being told by the government, the media, and the environmentalists.

Another excellent website is Washington Wolf Information.

© 2010 Lynn M Stuter – All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted here by permission of author.