>My raw foods dog list talks of a fluke that carries a rickettsia bacteria
>(hope I got that right) in Pacific Northwest salmon, kokes, steelhead, and
>trout which renders them quite dangerous for dogs. What can I assume about
>this in relation to humans, or what other information might someone have?


I have not seen this first-hand, but have learned it from people with
fish-eating sled dogs in the Pacific Northwest, one of whom had been feeding
raw food to her dogs for 30 years. She and several others even mentioned the
name of the fluke, which appears to be a devastating, lethal one (fast
acting).  I think it attacks the liver, and livers are crucial to survival.

She said she treats fish the same as the BARFers do to wild game if they
want to protect their dogs from parasites without cooking (and hence
ruining) the food: they freeze it for 3 months at 20 below zero
(unfortunately, my freezer only goes to -5 degrees).  Evidently that amount
of time at that temperature kills the parasites without significantly
damaging the food value.

While parasites may be "natural" (so are toxins in many plants) they do not
benefit the recipient, and may be fatal, or may weaken the animal enough
that it becomes susceptible to other kinds of problems.  Another issue is
that the pet that has parasites may then transmit them to their human
family....

Several people on the list who live up there (Pacific Northwest) mentioned
the local native Americans saying they had all lost dogs to this fluke,
since they fished salmon for a living and the dogs usually live on the
(extremely fresh) scraps from cleaning the fish.

HTH,

laurie (Mother Mastiff) and her five mastiffs (aged 1-9) and six pups, all
of them on an organic, raw natural diet that puts mine to shame.