Linguatula Serrata - tongue worm

[partystress]

Does anyone have any experience of this? Got a gorgeous rescue corgi/collie cross 9 days ago and it turns out she has this parasite. Vet has consulted and put her on panacur, frontal and an antibiotic, but says it is "experimental". Vet played down seriousness and risk to us, but having googled I am concerned -also for our existing dog. Any advice or experience would be really appreciated. Thank you.

The rescue centre are willing in principle to take her back and keep her in quarantine, but only if there is a realistic prospect of her being declared 'safe' to leave within a definite time frame. In other words they can't take her if it's going to be indefinitely. So it is now dependent on the centre's vet having conversations with RVC specialists - that will probably happen tomorrow, although I know the RVC were hoping to speak to someone in S Africa to find out more, so that may delay things (although obviously financially she can't stay much longer at RVC).

It is out of our hands really now. We have said we would really love to have her back if she can be declared no longer at risk of infecting other animals or humans. However the literature I have managed to find and make sense of is really unclear on how long larvae can survive within the host .

In terms of the whole question of transporting animals, yes I think it could become a big issue. She had all the checks for a pet passport, was checked on entry to the UK and again when she arrived at the centre. She looked fit and healthy and put on 10% weight in her 3 weeks at the rescue centre. As I understand it, the parasite is not really found in Europe, but is present in more than half of stray dogs in Iran, Egypt and parts of West Africa. So whether she came to Romania with people travelling from elsewhere, or in fact the parasite is in fact now present in European strays too, who knows? If this problem is undetectable by any standard health check, what else might be too?

So how many of these type of cases have to be discovered before some better restrictions are put back in place ? I really feel sorry for you OP it's a horrible situation but it's understandable that the rescue need time frames .

Absolutely Floral. And also for the dog - six months in quarantine is horrible enough to contemplate for her, any longer and I think it would be cruel.

This is so desparately sad, but you have done the best you can for now. :(

Completely agree .

Sadly Floral I think it was highly unlikely that controls will be put back in place. The pet passport came into existence dye to pressure from British Citizens the most notable being Chris Pattern.

Well I must say as someone who lives in the SE it is something that bothers me , I don't go abroad with my dog but are there extra things I should be getting him inoculated for ?

Currently Floral keeping your tick prevention up and treating monthly for lungworm would be the main things. A large proportion of the diseases are tick borne.

I'm on a scheme that uses advocate monthly and then a wormer tablet every 6 months ( I think) , dog is nearly 6 and has thus far never had worms / fleas and I've never seen a tick on him . Is there something I should add ?

You are not covered for ticks (advocate does not do ticks or tapeworm). The big tick project is about be published which those of us who submitted ticks to the project have a preview of. All ticks were removed from dogs in UK veterinary practices. They have found ticks which were previously not found in the UK and have found the ticks carrying several of the tick borne diseases.
If you walk your dog where there are sheep or deer there is a high risk of ticks.

I know this is awful for you, but I think the dog should be OTS to prevent any spread of that disease to our country.

Sorry

PTS I mean

It's the tip of the iceberg greenkit
The Pet Travel Scheme was never intended for mass importation of stray street dogs and farmed puppies into the UK. The rabies vaccination will not protect an animal already incubating rabies (can take 6 months or so) from developing it, and there are no requirements at all to test or treat any of the other diseases they may be carrying. It used to be that the animal was vaccinated, had to pass a blood test to prove immunity, then wait 6 months before the passport became valid. A fair proportion of dogs need 2 doses of rabies vaccine to mount an immune response.
Now it's single vaccine and they can travel 21 days later. A ticking time bomb for rabies in the UK, not to mention a host of other diseases.

Right , I don't walk near any livestock / wildlife as the dog would be chasing them but what do I do for ticks just in case as he does go in undergrowth / long grass .

Floral for ticks I like Bravecto, Seresto collar, Advantix or Activyl.

Miloarmadillo1

Its a scary thought, we have managed to keep rabies out so far and other nasty's. With this influx of overseas animals I worry it wont always been the case. And surely we should be rehoming our own homeless animals before we bring over more....

What a nightmare op. Really sorry for you and the dog but think you've made the correct decision.

Floral I use bravecto, our vets charge £45 but get it for £18 online. You do need a prescription though.

Just an update for those who have been following. She has been moved from RVC back to the rescue centre today, where she is now in quarantine. Vets are talking and trying to establish whether she will ever be able to be rehomed risk-free, but the move gives them some time to do that. We are transferring ownership of her back to the centre, so they will make the decisions. We will have first refusal if she does become safe to be back in a home environment. The centre will pay anything above our insurance cover. This all feels like the fairest the centre could be in the circumstances and it is a relief in a way to hand over the decision making.

Trying very hard not to worry about our other dog - they had done a lot of joint sniffing, but they hadn't got mega friendly, so hope that will have minimised chances of contagion. We have dosed our dog up with Drontal and Panacur and will repeat fortnightly for the next couple of months. Thank you for being such a supportive bunch through all this.

Probably the best outcome at the moment , is there anyway they can test your dog or is it just a wait and see type of thing ?

Have just had discharge report from RVC and they have said to do faecal test in one week and one month, so hopefully we will get some peace of mind there.

That's good .I assume you won't be getting another dog for the time being

No, will leave it six months. If there is a prospect of getting this one back, we should know by then.

Well best wishes to you and if you hear anymore from the rescue it would be lovely if you could update on poor dog . This thread has been most informative and quite an eye opener .

Sounds like the best outcome at the moment. Glad to hear the rescue is stepping up to take responsibility, as they should.

It does seem to me that these rescues, although they mean well, are perhaps, being rather irresponsible and causing more problems than they're solving by bringing all these overseas strays here.

Hope all goes well for your dog with the faecal tests.

Fingers crossed for your other dog, hope all is well there.

And for the rescue