Influencer, entrepreneur, singer and actress Mamba Dasha Šarközy (35) does not want to leave anything to chance. In the past, it ate berry fruits without washing. As she wrote herself, the girlfriend who did it is gone. The reason is the fox tapeworm. “Everything for a few minutes I dip into vinegar water with salt,“She said the brunette on the social network.
Some women wrote to her that they were doing the same, and others wondered why they were doing it. Mamba posted a mass answer to the questions on her instagram profile. The combination of vinegar and salt is used to remove parasites and microorganisms. “Líšči’s tapeworm now had a few people in Slovakia, probably after eating unwashed berry fruit. Certainly you will find somewhere on the Internet, there was also in the news“she explained her new caution.
“It attacks the organs and is very dangerous. It is transmitted by fox dropp, so be careful. And yes, these berries “probably around the forest did not even go” (as one girl wrote), but anyway, for sure … let’s wash everything“she told her fans.
Which areas of Slovakia are the most risky?
The occurrence of a fox (echinococcus multilocularis), which causes a serious parasitic liver disease known as alveolar echinococcosis, is the highest in districts in the north of Slovakia. The most risky are the districts of Martin, Ružomberok, Tvrdošín or Prešov. Quite often, this tapeworm was also recorded in foxes in the High Tatras. This was stated by Daniela Antolová from the Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS).
“In these areas, more foxes are infected, and the most patients with alveolar echinococcosis come from there. Eggs remain in the environment of infectious up to two yearsbut most they like the cool and humid environment, which is more typical of northern Slovakia, ”Antolová said.
For a long time, the occurrence of tapeworm has the highest foxes in the districts of northern Slovakia, where it reaches up to 40-50 percent and in some districts (Martin, Ružomberok, Tvrdošín) even exceeded 60 percent. The expert added that the hot and dry environment of the egg is devitalizing, therefore the occurrence of tapeworm is lower in the south of Slovakia.
The parasitologist noted that in the case of alveolar echinococcosis in humans, it is not possible to talk about seasonal occurrence, cases occur throughout the year. “Although it is likely that patients become infected earlier in spring or autumn, the incubation period of the disease is very long and therefore ‘not’ patients appear continuously”She said.
She recalled that the most common host of the fox tapeworm is the fox rusty, so large surveys were carried out in Slovakia, which examined more than 5,000 foxes from all districts of Slovakia. Research conducted by Martina Miterpáková from the Institute of Parasitology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences showed that the average incidence of E. Multilocularis reached 30 percent. “On average, up to 1777 tapeworms per diameter of 1 to 245,000 tapeworms per animal, ” Antolová approached.
She explained that foxes and other carnivores would be infected after the eating of the infected intermediate host, which is most often small rodents. These form cysts on the liver, similar to humans. She stressed that dogs are rare in dogs. “This is mainly because the dog can only be infected after the consumption of the infected intermediate host of the tapeworm. So if the dog does not hunt or does not consume rodents, it is almost excluded that it will be infected,” she said.
Alveolar echinococcosis is a rare but severe parasitic liver disease that causes the tapeworm. In the liver, it creates aggressive cystic formations that can grow into the surroundings and damage the tissue, even metastasize to other organs. One is infected after accidental ingestion of eggs, for example, when working with contaminated soil, after consuming unwashed fruits or vegetables (most often forest fruits) contaminated with soil containing a parasite egg.
