Pre-Travel Deworming within 24 to 120 hours against a specific tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis -EM) is now required for dogs travelling across borders in European countries. As of Jan 1, 2012, the few non-compliant countries will go with the EU’s guideline. Reported in the September 2011 Veterinary Practice News.

Tapeworms are amazing parasites. There are hundreds of different ones and each has different, and specific, intermediate (1 to 3) and final hosts (1). The common ones seen in our dogs and cats are of the species Taenia. They do not cause severe damage to dogs or cats so herbal or flower Essence treatments can be very successful. The intermediate host for the most common tapeworms of dogs and cats is fleas, so seeing the little rice grain like egg sacs is not uncommon. The healthier your companion, the less likely tapeworms are to take hold in the intestines. One client used Spirit Essence’s Para-Outta-Site for 4 – 6 weeks after seeing the dried up rice shaped segments around the anus of both her dogs. One dog, after 4 weeks, expelled a cup of tapeworms. The other, after 6 weeks, no longer discharged any segments at all. Since flower essences are totally safe, I recommend this as the first treatment.

EM’s final host is dogs. the most common intermediate hosts are small mammals like voles and moles. However, people can ingest the segments or eggs that may be on the coats of their dogs and become one of the intermediate hosts. This can cause a serious disease in the person’s lungs – alveolar echinococcosis. This is why there is now the requirement to treat a dog within 24 to 120 hours before travel. The main travel requirements are to be microchipped, vaccinated and titer tested for Rabies and treated for tapeworms (especially for EM).