BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 383 



on account of I he presence of tliese parasites in the meat. An investi- 

 gation now in progress has shown that these cysts are not communi- 

 cable to man, but that they are the intermediate stage of a tapeworm 

 of the dog. Prophylaxis against this parasite consists in keeping sheep 

 dogs free from tapeworms, which may be accomplished by treating 

 them periodically with a suitable anthelmintic and in destroying the 

 carcabses of dead sheep to prevent their being devoured by dogs. 



MEASLES IN REINDEER. 



Reports and specimens from the official physician of the Interior 

 Department at Nome, Alaska, have shown that measles are prevalent 

 among the reindeer herds of Alaska, and that commonly the meat of 

 these animals is so heavily infested as to render it unfit for food. 

 The parasite in this case is probably the form known as Cysticercus 

 tarandi^ which is the intermediate stage of Tcenia krahhei of the dog. 

 The occurrence of this parasite in Alaska reindeer has already inter- 

 fered with the sale of reindeer meat in Alaska, and unless measures 

 are taken toward its eradication it is likely that the reindeer industry 

 in that Territory will suffer considerably in the future on account of 

 this parasite. 



A PARASITE OF THE HORSE TRANSMITTED BY THE HOUSE FLY. 



The interesting fact has been determined that a nematode which 

 occurs in the stomach of the horse, sometimes in enormous numbers, 

 is transmitted by the common house fly, which acts as an intermediate 

 host. This nematode, known as Habronema musccB^ produces em- 

 bryos which pass out of the body of the horse in the feces. The 

 embryos enter fly larvae, which develop in the feces from eggs de- 

 {iosited by flies, and grow^ and develop during the growth of the fly 

 larvae, reaching their final larval development at about the time the 

 full-growm fly emerges from the pupal stage. A\nien an infested 

 fly is swallowed by a horse, the larval nematodes develop to maturity, 

 thus completing the life cycle. A full report of the investigations 

 concerning this parasite has been prepared for publication as bureau 

 Bulletin 163. 



INDEX-CATALOGUE OF MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ZOOLOGY. 



The preparation and publication of the Index-Catalogue of Med- 

 ical and Veterinary Zoology, in cooperation with the Division of 

 Zoology, Hygienic Laboratory, United States Public Health Service, 

 have been continued. The subject index of the Cestoda has been 

 completed and is now in press. 



MISCELLANEOUS WORK. 



The usual amount of correspondence relative to parasites and 

 parasitic diseases has been attended to, numerous specimens sent in 

 by bureau employees and other persons have been identified, and a 

 considerable number of valuable specimens have been added to the 

 helminthological collection of the bureau. An interesting collection 

 of over '200 distinct "lots of specimens was obtained in the course of 

 field work done in Colorado during the summer of 1911. 



