Last week’s Agricultural Advisory Committee discussed the continued efforts to eradicate hydatid disease, a disease which infects sheep, dogs and even humans, causing cysts in major organs. While hydatid disease is virtually non-existent in the islands, one positive case of the disease has been detected so far this year. The Agricultural Department now look to the committee’s recommendations for their eradication programme.

Through a combination of dosing, confining farm dogs when not at work, and safely disposing of deceased sheep, among other efforts, hydatid disease has been close to eradication for many years. However, the committee did note that some younger farmers in the islands are unaware what hydatid cysts look like, which could cause disease infection rates to increase.

The findings from the Advisory Committee will be discussed in the upcoming farmer’s week in July. Any potential changes to the eradication programme would be implemented from January 2023 at the earliest.