Man treated for 40-year-old disease

A Hawkes Bay person diagnosed with the notifiable disease hydatids is believed to have picked it up more than 40 years ago.

Hawke's Bay DHB said New Zealand only got "a few" cases of the disease every year, which was first caused by an adult tapeworm infecting the intestinal tract of a host, usually a dog.

The tapeworm's eggs are then ingested by the human who becomes a host for the tiny hooked embryos which eventually develop into hydatid cysts.

The disease is notifiable because an unusually large number of cases can indicate there is a population of dogs with the disease .