Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference has achieved remarkable results in promoting the prevention and control of echinococcosis among livestock, and the number of patients with echinococc

(Reporter Li Muyuan) The reporter learned from the "2017 National Symposium on Echinococcosis Prevention and Control Technology" held in Chengdu, Sichuan on June 13th that with the promotion of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the prevention and control of echinococcosis among livestock in agricultural and pastoral areas in western China has achieved remarkable results. The total number of patients with echinococcosis has decreased from 380,000 estimated in 2004 to about 170,000 in 2016, and the infection rate of cattle, sheep and dogs has also dropped significantly.

Livestock such as cattle and sheep, canines and cats are the most important sources of infection of echinococcosis. For a long time, one of the main reasons for the poor prevention and control effect of echinococcosis in China is insufficient attention to the prevention and control of animal sources, lack of financial support for prevention and control at the national level, lack of effective communication and cooperation between ministries, imperfect animal disease prevention and control team, and backward research and development of prevention and control technologies and products.

On June 4th, 2015, Yu Zhengsheng, President of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, hosted the 32nd biweekly consultation forum with the theme of "Prevention and control of echinococcosis in western agricultural and pastoral areas". Up to now, a total of 68 biweekly consultation forums have been held since the 12th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, but this is the only one that takes the prevention and control of an infectious disease as the theme. "The opinions and suggestions put forward by this biweekly consultation forum provide a scientific basis for the central government’s decision-making." Shi Jianzhong, deputy director of China Animal Disease Prevention and Control Center, said.

Professor Wu Weiping from the Institute of Parasitic Diseases of China CDC introduced that according to the survey results of important human parasitic diseases in 2004, the average prevalence rate of echinococcosis in endemic areas was 1.08%. It is estimated that the threatened population is about 50 million, and the number of echinococcosis patients in China is about 380 thousand. With the strengthening of prevention and control of echinococcosis in China in recent years, especially since 2015, the number of patients with echinococcosis has dropped significantly. According to the latest survey results, by the end of 2016, there were more than 360 endemic counties of echinococcosis in China, with a population prevalence rate of 0.34% and a total of about 170,000 patients.

Animal source prevention and control has also achieved remarkable results. According to Shi Jianzhong, in 2016, the state issued the National Prevention and Control Plan for Key Parasitic Diseases such as Hydatid Disease (2016-2020), which clarified the prevention and control objectives, work indicators, prevention and control strategies and technical measures for the next stage. The central government’s emergency funds for echinococcosis prevention and control in 2015 and 2016 reached 440 million yuan and 470 million yuan respectively. And since 2017, the state has included the funds for prevention and control of echinococcosis in the affected provinces into the annual funds for animal epidemic prevention.

It is reported that in the past two years, China Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control, in conjunction with animal epidemic control institutions at all levels in epidemic areas, has carried out a lot of work around the source control of echinococcosis. Not only did it explore the establishment of three models, such as dog administration, livestock immunity and comprehensive prevention and control of drug administration immunity, but also established six technology promotion demonstration zones in Sichuan, Qinghai and Xinjiang; Technical materials such as technical specifications for prevention and control of echinococcosis and manuals for prevention and control of echinococcosis in animals have also been compiled, which has improved the technical level of grass-roots animal epidemic prevention personnel; In addition, through the use of new drugs and vaccines, the measures to control the source of infection have been implemented, and at the same time, the labor difficulty of grassroots veterinarians and the risk of being bitten by dogs have been reduced.

Shi Jianzhong said that with the joint efforts of national and local veterinary departments, the prevention and control of echinococcosis among livestock in China has achieved remarkable results. From 2014 to 2016, the average infection rate of echinococcosis in cattle decreased from 4.46% to 2.12%, that of sheep decreased from 4.05% to 2.17%, and that of dogs decreased from 6.6% to 5.02%.

Shiqu county is a serious epidemic area of echinococcosis in China, and it is also one of the areas with the highest infection rate and the largest number of patients. In the past two years, as a national pilot project of echinococcosis prevention and control, the county has also achieved remarkable results in echinococcosis prevention and control. According to Mou Dengyu, deputy director of the Veterinary and Veterinary Medicine Department of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture, the infection rate of echinococcosis in cattle and sheep in shiqu county has dropped from over 40% at the beginning of last year to 32.58% at present; The infection rate of echinococcosis in dogs has dropped from 35% at the beginning of last year to 9.34% at present, and the decline rate is very obvious.

However, Shi Jianzhong said that the prevention and control of echinococcosis is a long-term work, and unremitting efforts are needed to achieve the national goal of basically controlling the epidemic of echinococcosis in 2020. At present, there are still some problems in rapid diagnosis technology, insect repellent for dogs, and the epidemic situation of wild animals. To solve these problems, all regions, industries and departments need to cooperate closely and cooperate to tackle key problems.