Abstract:
Cystieeroustenuicollis and echinococcus granulosus are highly considered to be among the most common tape worms infecting goats and sheep leading to high degree of morbidity and mortality and also being responsible for significant economic losses especially due to slaughter condemnation in developing countries such as Uganda, Iganga district in particular where sanitation is poor and people live in close proximity with each other and with animals (UBOS,2009).
The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cysticercosis due cysticercus tenuicollis and echinococcus granulosus in goats and sheep slaughtered in Iganga district municipal abattoir, Iganga, Uganda. A cross-sectional based survey was conducted from May 2019 to June 2019 where a total of 212 animal comprising 106 sheep and 106 goats of both sexes were examined at postmortem for the evidence hydatid cysts and cysticercus tenuicollis through visual inspection, incision and palpation of organs.
The prevalence of hydatid cysts was 4.7% and 2.8%. In goats and sheep respectively and the prevalence of cysticercus tenuicollis was 22.6% in goats and 15.1% in sheep. The prevalence of both cysticercus tenuicollis and hydatid cysts was observed to be high in old animals than the young ones. With cysticercus: tenuicollis, the prevalence was observed to be almost the same in both sexes (18.8% males and 18.9% females), well as the prevalence of hydatid cysts was observed to slightly higher in females (4.2%) than males (3.4%). The result of the study revealed that goats were more affected with both. hydatid cyst and C. tenuicollis as compared to sheep. Higher prevalences were also observed in animals with poor body condition scores in both species. The study revealed that there was a correlation between variables age and BDCs with the prevalence of both hydatid cysts and C. tenuicollis while variable such as sex, species and origin showed no: correlation with both cysticercus tenuioollis and hydatid cyst. Cysticercus tenuicallis were more frequently detected in in the omentum than other visceral organs among the animal examined while hydatid cysts were more in the liver.
In conclusion, the observed high prevalence of the two metacestodes leads to high condemnation rates of visceral organs and also poses a significant public health concerns. Therefore, this calls for the need to undertake more extensive epidemiological investigations to determine the casual factor, economic impact, and public health importance of the disease in the livestock sector. It was recommended that public education on means of transmission, prevention and control strategies of echinococcus granulosus and cysticercus tenuicollis is crucial.
