Abstract:
Echinococcosis or hydatidosis (due to the larval stage of Echinococcus gramulosis and cysticercosis (due to the larval stage of Taenia hydatigena) pose a significant economic losses due to slaughter condemnation and risk to public health in developing countries such as Uganda, Kumi district in particular where sanitation is poor and people live in close proximity with each other and with animals. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus cysts and cysticercus tenuicollis cysts in cattle, sheep and goats slaughtered at Kumi municipal abattoir, Kumi district, Uganda. A cross-sectional based survey was conducted, from May 20t.8 to June 2018, where a total of 626 animals comprising of 94 cattle, 396 goats and 163 sheep of both sexes were examined at post-mortem for the evidence of larval, stage of Echinococcus granulosus (Hydatidcyst) and T. hydatigena (Cysticercus. tenuicolllsy through visual inspection" incision and palpation of organs and viscera. The prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus was 12.9%, 0.0%, and 1.8% in cattle, goats and sheep, respectively, while that for cysticercus tenuicollis were, 0.0% in cattle, 31.4% in goats and 25.2% in sheep. The prevalence of the disease was high, in the old animals than the young and so in females than males and there was no correlation between the variables age, sex, breed, area of origin with the prevalence of the, diseases. The result of this study revealed that cattle and sheep were more affected by Echinococcosis gramulosus cysts while goats were frequently affected by taenia hydatigenacysts T. hydatigena (C.lenuicollis) cysts were more frequently detected in the omentum than other visceral organs among the animals examined while the echinococcus granuilosus were more in the liver followed by the lungs and the cysts were mostly calcified. In conclusion, the observed high prevalence of the two metacestodes larval stages leads to high condemnation rates of edible organs and raises significant public health concerns. This call for the need to undertake more extensive epidemiological investigations to determine the causal factors. and importance of the diseases in this livestock.
