Even more promising is that such incidents have been confined to a single isolated area during the past five years. Both townies and farmers will recall visiting the local hydatids dog-dosing strip which was part of the eradication programme, along with dog control, regulations on home killing, and a ban on feeding uncooked offal to dogs. With most of New Zealand clear of the disease, the days of six-weekly dosing of dogs ended in 1996, but dog owners still have an obligation to ensure that offal is thoroughly cooked before feeding to dogs. The strict inspection of livestock passing through slaughterhouses was a vital part of the eradication programme, and post-mortem inspection of livestock at slaughterhouses remains a cornerstone of the current control programme. The current programme is based on the principle that people must be responsible for animals they own or are in charge of.
Some people still confuse sheep measles and true hydatids.
Sheep measles, which is common in New Zealand, is not a human health risk, but rather a product quality issue. True hydatids, on the other hand, is much more serious. The parasite can only mature in dogs, but to complete its life cycle it also needs an intermediate host. In New Zealand, the main intermediate host is sheep. Sheep become infected by grazing on pasture contaminated with tapeworm eggs passed in dog faeces.