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Originally Posted by misskate  Wonder if we have gardia in Europe? I'll ask my vet this week when we go in for our checkups. Didn't even know it existed. |
The way it was explained to me when I was about 11 and backpacking, it's super common in wild animals in the woods/wild. Referred to as beaver fever and the #1 reason to boil water for a few minutes, then cooling, before drinking when taking your water from a lake or river. For backpackers, severe diarrhea from beaver fever causes dehydration and if they happen to be in high elevations, severe altitude sickness can result. This would only be pertinent in the Rockies and Cascades... LOL The East Coast only has hills! LOL
I would be VERY surprised if giardia isn't a world wide issue.
What I understood and still understand is that adult animals carry the parasite with little to no observable affects. It's the very young and very old that the parasite causes giardia.
This actually clears it up better with all the names:
Giardia | Parasites | CDC