Popular search terms
  • Biosecurity toolkit
  • Contact us
  • What is biosecurity?
  • Farm Biosecurity Program
  • Plant pest responses
  • Animal disease response
  • Farm profiler
  • Toolkit
  • Subscribe
  • About
    • About the Farm Biosecurity Program
    • Emergency animal disease responses
    • Emergency plant pest responses
  • Essentials
    • Farm inputs
    • Farm outputs
    • Ferals & weeds
      • Wild dog biosecurity
    • People, vehicles & equipment
    • Production practices
    • Train, plan & record
    • Videos
  • Toolkit
    • Gate sign
    • Create your own biosecurity kit
    • Declarations
    • Manuals
    • On-farm biosecurity planning
    • Records
  • Crops
    • Cotton
      • Cotton best management practice
      • Cotton product management
      • Cotton pests
    • Feed mills
    • Fruit & nuts
      • Fruit & nut pests
        • Apple and pear pests
        • Avocado pests
        • Banana pests
        • Cherry pests
        • Citrus pests
        • Mango pests
        • Nut pests
        • Papaya pests
        • Summerfruit pests
      • Fruit & nut product management
    • Grains
      • Grains pests
      • Grains product management
      • Grain storage options
    • Honey bees
      • BeeAware website and newsletter
      • Code of Practice and National Bee Biosecurity Program
      • Honey bee glossary
      • Honey bee product management
      • Honey bee pests
      • Honey bee best management practice
      • Beekeeper advisory – mosquito insecticide control during the 2022 Japanese encephalitis outbreak
    • Nursery & garden
      • Nursery & garden pests
      • Nursery & garden product management
      • Nursery & garden best management practice
    • Onions
      • Onion pest threats
      • Onion pest eradication or control examples
    • Plantation forestry
      • Forestry biosecurity practices
      • Forestry pests
      • Hypothetical exotic bark beetle incursion
      • Plantation forestry quality assurance
    • Potatoes
      • Potato pest threats
      • Potato biosecurity areas
    • Sugarcane
      • Sugarcane best management practice
      • Sugarcane biosecurity essentials
      • Queensland Sugarcane Biosecurity Zones
      • Sugarcane pests and weeds
    • Vegetables
      • Vegetable pests
      • Vegetable product management
    • Viticulture
      • Phylloxera
      • Viticulture pests
      • Viticulture product management
  • Livestock
    • Alpacas
    • Beef cattle
    • Chickens
    • Dairy cattle
    • Ducks
    • Eggs
    • Feed mills
    • Goats
    • Horses
      • Mosquito Management for Horses
    • Lot feeding
    • New and emerging livestock industries
    • Pigs
      • Feeding your pigs
      • Controlling mosquitoes around piggeries
    • Ratites
    • Sheep
    • Zoo animals
  • Get help
    • Property biosecurity management planning
  • News
    • E-newsletter
    • Subscribe to Farm Biosecurity News
  • Stories
  • Videos

Don’t let hydatids worm their way onto your property

Print this page
  • Home
  • News
  • Don’t let hydatids worm their way onto your property

Don’t let hydatids worm their way onto your property

Hydatid lifecycle Image: Tas DPIPWE

Hydatid disease is back in the spotlight after the National Sheep Health Monitoring Project (NSHMP) identified an increased incidence of the infection in Queensland and New South Wales last year.

The disease is one of the 10 animal health conditions the NSHMP monitors that have the potential to increase meat processing wastage or reduce farm profit through productivity losses. It hasn’t been a significant problem since good farming practices brought the condition under control in the 1950s.

However, a recent increase in the disease is a reminder to producers that the condition still exists and that they need to be aware of its causes, effects and how to reduce the risk of infection.

The condition is caused by tapeworms that produce large cysts in the organs of intermediate hosts such as sheep. Dogs usually carry the tapeworms after consuming infected offal or other material that has come into contact with cyst fluid. Despite showing no signs of the disease themselves, the faeces of host dogs contain eggs that can contaminate the grazing paddocks of sheep and cattle, causing livestock infection.

As a result, producers incur losses due to the condemnation of edible meat by-products associated with the presence of cysts or because of the premature death of infected livestock. If not disposed of quickly, these contaminated carcasses can be eaten by dogs on the property, restarting the hydatid disease cycle.

As hydatid disease is primarily spread by domestic and wild dogs, most prevention strategies focus on establishing good biosecurity practices around these animals. Producers should ensure dogs on their property are wormed according to the product’s instructions every four weeks and weigh them prior to worming to ensure the correct dosage is administered. Dogs should be fed only commercially manufactured products and never allowed to consume uncooked offal as this may be contaminated.

Producers should also maintain fencing to prevent foxes and wild dogs from accessing their property and immediately remove all livestock carcasses from their land. As the disease can spread to humans, people who come into contact with dogs should always wash their hands afterwards.

By incorporating these simple biosecurity measures in their daily practice, producers can minimise the risks associated with hydatid disease.

Read the latest information on
Foot-and-mouth disease

Read the latest information on
Lumpy skin disease

Read the latest information on
Japanese encephalitis

Subscribe to our newsletter

Farm Biosecurity News

Use our profiler to make your

Biosecurity Toolkit

Latest News
  • 30 April 2025

    Silent invaders: what to watch out for this season
  • 28 April 2025

    The role of growers in the national biosecurity system
  • 28 April 2025

    Protecting Australia’s livestock: the critical role of the Ruminant Feed Ban
  • 28 April 2025

    Prevent, protect, and show with confidence
  • 31 March 2025

    Australia’s national biosecurity system: ready when it matters the most

Emergency Animal Disease Hotline
1800 675 888

Exotic Plant Pest Hotline
1800 084 881

  • Sitemap
  • Copyright
  • Contact us
  • Privacy & Disclaimer
  • Website by Morph Digital