Prevalence of echinococcosis in goats and sheep slaughtered in Kotido Town Council Abattoir, Kotido District.

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was-carried out from February to May 2014 to determine the prevalence' of echinocoecosis in goats and sheep slaughtered in Kotido town council abattoir For this purpose, a total of 354 small ruminants; 194 sheep and 160 goats slaughtered in the, abattoir were examined for the; presence of hydatid cysts', Hydatid cysts were detected in 121 (62,4%) sheep and 96 (60.0%) goats examined respectively, Results of the study showed that statistically significant variation was never observed in the prevalence of hydatid cysts between sheep and goat’s hosts. In the study, 31 (59.8%) males and 86(63:7%) females were found to harbor hydatid cysts in one or more of their organs, Higher prevalence was recorded in females than males. An overall prevalence of 65.8% in goats and sheep of ages above 3 years, 65.1% in ages between2-3 years and 53.0% in ages between 0-1 years of hydatid cysts was recorded. This study showed that the infection rate Increases as the age increases; it was found that there was positive correlation between the age of sheep and goats examined and infection rate. It can therefore be concluded that the sheep play greater role in dissemination of the disease and contamination of human in our region. In view of the findings of the current study, there is a need and recommendations for proper disposal of offals, reduction of back yard slaughtering and control of stray dogs to prevent the spread of hydatid cysts and public health hazards associated with cystic echinococcosis. Further epidemiological studies on the comparative importance of intermediate hosts, genotype of strains from different hosts species and zoonotic and economic significance of cystic echinococcosis ate urgently needed in different parts of Kotido district It is therefore necessary that efforts should be made to make the general public aware of the problem even in those-areas where the infection has hot beenreported. It is also imperative that dog owners should be warned of the dangers of feeding raw offals to dogs since home slaughter is a common practice of the Jie lifestyle of Kotido. The necessity of regular deworming of dogs and the provision of meat inspection services will no doubt greatly contribute, to the fight against echinococcosis disease