Prevalence of Cysticercus bovis at Dessie Municipal Abattoir, North East Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2015 to April 2016 on bovine cysticercosis at Dessie Municipal Abattoir with the objectives of estimating the prevalence of Cysticercus bovis (C bovis) and assessing some of the associated risk factors. The study animals were selected by using simple random sampling method from the cattle slaughtered in the Abattoir. Ante-mortem and post-mortem examination of 384 cattle were done during the study period. The cattle were examined for the presence of C. bovis following the routine meat inspection procedures. The overall prevalence of C. bovis was 6.8% (26/384). There was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in occurrence of the disease between sex, breed and age of the animal, whereas a statistically significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in body condition of slaughtered animals. Higher prevalence was recorded in animals with poor body condition than in animals with medium and good body condition. The total number of cysts encountered during the study was 43. The anatomical distribution of the cysts in organs/muscles affected were 13(30.23%) in tongue, 8(18.60%) in shoulder, 6(13.95%) in masseter, 2(4.65%) in heart, and 2(4.65%) in liver. No cyst was found in kidney and diaphragm. The current finding clearly indicated that relatively high prevalence of C. bovis was found distributed throughout the organs of slaughtered cattle. As a result, emphasis should be given to prevention and control of the parasite so as to reduce the impacts of this disease in animals and humans.