Occurrence and fertility rates of hydatid cysts in sheep and goats slaughtered at Modjo Luna Export Slaughter House, Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia very limited studies were conducted in small ruminant hydatidosis compared to cattle. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Modjo Luna Export Slaughter House from December 2009 to February 2010 to determine the prevalence and fertility of hydatid cysts. A total of 325 sheep and 440 goats were examined. Examination of lung, liver, kidney, heart and carcass was conducted following standard postmortem procedures. Fertility of hydatid cysts was tested by absence or presence of motility and staining with 0.1% aqueous eosin solution. Out of 325 sheep and 440 goats examined 25 (7.7%) sheep and 27(6.13%) goats had hydatid cysts. The prevalence was high in sheep compared to goats although the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The organ distribution of hydatid cyst in sheep was 15 (60%) in lung, 9 (36%) in liver and 1 (4%) both the liver and lungs. In goats, hydatid cysts were recovered from 19 (70%) of the lung, 5 (18.5%) of the liver, 1 (3.7%) of the kidney, 2 (7.4%) of the heart and 2 (7.4%) of the muscle. In both sheep and goats the infection was more in lungs, followed by liver. Eighty percent of the cysts found in the lung of sheep were fertile, while there was no fertile cyst detected in the lung of goats and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In Ethiopia, to break the life cycle of echinococcosis/hydatidosis, public education on habit of feeding condemned organs to dogs should be undertaken.