What to Do If a Goose Gets Echinostomiasis? Detailed Prevention and Treatment Measures

Goose echinostomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Echinostoma revolutum parasitizing the rectum and ceca of geese. Affected geese show diarrhea, anemia, emaciation, hemorrhagic enteritis and other changes, and severe cases can cause death. Geese, ducks and many other poultry can be infected. It is widely prevalent in China and is extremely harmful to young chicks.

(1) Pathogen characteristics.

Pathogen.

The pathogen of echinostomiasis is Echinostoma, belonging to the family Echinostomatidae. There are many species of Echinostoma; nearly 120 species of this family have been found in China. The common ones are Echinostoma revolutum, Echinostoma miyagawai and Echinostoma robustum, etc. Echinostoma revolutum is the most common.

Morphology of the worm. Echinostoma revolutum is long leaf-shaped and pale red, with small spines on the body surface. The worm body is 7.6-12.6 mm long and 1.26-1.60 mm wide. Its characteristic is that the front end of the worm body has a well-developed head crown, with 35-37 head spines on the head crown. The oral and ventral suckers are relatively close together, and the oral sucker is larger than the ventral sucker. The vitelline glands are well developed and distributed on both sides of the worm body behind the ventral sucker.

Eggs. Oval, golden yellow, size 114-126 micrometers x 64-72 micrometers, with an operculum at the slightly pointed end of the egg.

(2) Life history.

The development of trematodes of the family Echinostomatidae requires two intermediate hosts. The first intermediate host is a freshwater snail, and the second intermediate host is a freshwater snail or tadpole, etc. The eggs are discharged from the body with the feces of the final host such as geese. Under suitable conditions, they hatch into miracidia in water and penetrate into the first intermediate host, freshwater snails (such as Lymnaea and Radix), in whose bodies they pass through sporocysts and first- and second-generation rediae, and then develop into cercariae. The cercariae leave the first intermediate host and enter the water. Upon encountering the second intermediate host, such as freshwater snails (Planorbis, Bithynia, etc.), clams or tadpoles, they enter their bodies and develop into metacercariae. Ducks and geese become infected by eating tadpoles or snails containing metacercariae. The juvenile worms in the metacercariae attach to the intestinal wall and develop into adults after about 16-22 days. The adults parasitize the rectum and ceca.

(3) Epidemiology. Echinostomiasis is relatively widespread, especially in the Yangtze River basin and the provinces and autonomous regions to its south. Poultry that are free-range or have been fed aquatic plants have a high incidence rate. It is extremely harmful to young chicks.

(4) Clinical symptoms and pathological changes. Due to the mechanical stimulation and toxic effects of the worm body, digestive function is impaired, manifesting as poor appetite, diarrhea, anemia, emaciation, stunted growth and development, and severe cases can cause death. On necropsy, hemorrhagic enteritis changes can be seen, and many pale red worm bodies are attached to the mucosa of the rectum and ceca, causing damage and bleeding of the intestinal mucosa.

(5) Prevention and treatment measures.

In areas where this disease is prevalent, efforts should be made to eliminate its intermediate host, freshwater snails. Every year, geese should be dewormed in a planned manner, and the feces after deworming should be strictly handled. Poultry houses should be cleaned promptly, and feces should be piled up for fermentation to kill the eggs.

For deworming, drugs such as niclosamide (100-150 mg per kg body weight, orally once), albendazole (15 mg per kg body weight, orally once), bithionol (100-200 mg per kg body weight, prepared as a suspension, orally in two doses) and praziquantel (10 mg per kg body weight, orally once) can be used.