Prevalence, organ distribution, risk factors, and financial losses of hydatid cysts in sheep and goats slaughtered in restaurants in Jimma, south western Oromia

Risk factors and economic losses associated with cystic echinococcosis among livestock in selected pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of Uganda

BACKGROUND

Cystic echinococcosis is a parasitic cyclo-zoonotic disease caused by the taeniid Echinococcus and causes significant economic losses in livestock production, yet its impact is often overlooked and under estimated.

METHODS

This study investigated the risk factors and economic impact of cystic echinococcosis in livestock, in Uganda's pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. In the study, 14,937 livestock were examined at selected slaughterhouses in Moroto, Kumi, Luwero and Nakasongola districts from March 2019 to February 2020. The visceral organs were examined for hydatid cysts during slaughter and the prevalence correlated with the risk factors got from livestock traders and livestock owners through questionnaire survey. Production losses and economic losses due to organ condemnations were also estimated.

RESULTS

This is the first study to provide insights into the financial impacts and risk factors towards Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) in livestock in Uganda. The key significant risk factors for the persistence of CE in goats were place of origin from Lira (P ≤ 0.000), Nakasongola (P ≤ 0.002), Luwero and Bukedea (P ≤ 0.002), and tethering (P ≤ 0.001); in cattle was communal grazing (P ≤ 0.0000); and in sheep was being kept in large flocks (P ≤ 0.004). The total annual economic losses due to CE on livestock inspected in abattoirs in the study districts was USD 21,352.7 (1 USD = 3,809.3 UGX) of which 11.7% was due to organ condemnation and 88.3% due to livestock production losses. More significant mean annual economic losses per livestock species examined occurred in Moroto district among Zebu cattle USD 8.4, goats USD 1.4 and sheep USD 1.4 than other districts.

CONCLUSION

Results show that CE is a disease of significant economic and public health importance in PAP areas in Uganda with urgent need to create awareness and institute community-based control measures involving multistakeholder particiapation.to break livestock-dog cycle.

Prevalence of Cystic Echinococcosis in Sheep and Goats of Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a cestode infection of significant public health and economic importance. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled prevalence of small ruminant CE and associated risk factors in Ethiopia. The published literature written in English from 01 January 2000 to 30 December 2019 was searched from electronic databases and eligible reports that fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 1140 records were identified, of which 23 reports met the eligibility criteria. A random-effects meta-analysis model was used to pool the prevalence estimations, and a subgroup meta-analysis was utilized to compare the pooled prevalence of CE among the species, age group and sex of the studied animals. The pooled estimated small ruminant CE prevalence was 20.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 18.7, 22.3) in Ethiopia, and there was significant heterogeneity among the studies (p < 0.05). The pooled prevalence was higher for sheep, 24.3% (18.5, 30.1), compared to goats, 18.5% (14.5, 22.6), and in adults than young animals. The results of the present analysis suggested a high prevalence of CE at the national level. CE has a significant economic impact due to organ condemnation and production losses and poses a serious public health risk. Effective control requires public awareness, improved slaughterhouse practices, stray dog population management and integrated surveillance and control programmes involving veterinary, public health and environmental sectors. Such synthesis reports are believed to be useful in influencing policymakers towards designing effective prevention and control policies and strategies.

The prevalence of hydatid cyst in raw meat products: a global systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression

Hydatid cyst contamination in food presents a persistent and pervasive threat to public health. Hence, several studies have been published on hydatid cysts in raw meat products. The current study aimed to meta-analyze the prevalence of hydatid cysts in meat. The search was performed in international databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar, from January 1, 2000, to February 10, 2024. A meta-analysis of prevalence was conducted using the metaprop command in the subgroups of countries, animals, and WHO regions. Meta-regression of the prevalence of hydatid cysts in meat over time and sanitation services ranking was conducted using a random effects model (restricted maximum--likelihood). Fifty-seven published references with 130 data reports were included in the study. The lowest and highest prevalence of hydatid cysts in raw meat was observed in Sudan at 0.01%, 95%CI (0.01-0.02) and Italy at 69.86%, 95%CI (68.14-71.55), respectively. The highest prevalence of hydatid cysts was observed in Sheep (12.32%), Cattle (11.85%), and Buffalo (10.65%). The lowest and highest prevalence of hydatid cysts was South-East Asian Reg (2.77%) and European Region (33.21%), respectively. Meta-regression showed that the prevalence of hydatid cysts has significantly decreased over time (p-value = 0.021) and insignificantly decreased with sanitation services ranking (p-value = 0.679). Therefore, in order to maintain the existing conditions and even reduce the burden of hydatidosis, public health education, promotion of hygienic practices, and investment need to be carried out continuously.

Prevalence and associated risk factors of hydatidosis in cattle slaughtered at Wolaita Sodo municipality abattoir

BACKGROUND

Hydatidosis, caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus, affect cattle by forming hydatid cyst in thier lungs, livers and pose great financial loss in animal production and country's economy by both direct and indirect effect. Despite its great economic and health importance, there is an absence of current information on cystic echinococcosis in cattle slaughtered at Wolaita Sodo municipality abattoir in Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVES

Current investigation determines the prevalence, organ distribution and fertility of hydatid cysts in cattle slaughtered at the Wolaita Sodo municipality abattoir in Ethiopia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted from February, 2023, to October, 2023, at Wolaita Sodo municipality abattoir in southern Ethiopia, through regular meat examinations and cyst characterisation to determine the prevalence, organ distribution and fertility of hydatid cysts.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of hydatidosis recorede in current study was 17.9% (69/384) and has shown a statistically significant association (p < 0.05) with the body condition of cattle. However, there was no statistically significant association (p > 0.05) between the prevalence of hydatidosis and other risk factors such as sex, breed, production system and origin of animals. This study showed that the lungs and liver were the most affected organs in cattle, followed by the spleen and kidneys. On cyst characterisation, the majority of hydatid cysts were found sterile (55.4%) followed by fertile (38.8%) and calcified (8.7%) cysts. Out of 125 fertile hydatid cysts tested for survival, 18.8% (58/321) were viable and 20% (67/321) were nonviable.

CONCLUSION

The finding of this study shows that cystic echinococcus was important health threat of the cattle and widespread in the internal organs of affected cattle causing significant economic loss by condemning edible organs that are not suitable for human consumption. Therefore, urgent and integreted preventive action is needed to disrupt the life cycle of cystic echinococcosis to tackle subsequent financial loss and risk of zoonosis to humans in the study area.

Assessment of health problems of sheep and goats based on ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection at Addis Ababa Abattoir, Ethiopia

Introduction

Ethiopia has a rapidly growing small ruminant sector, which faces low productivity due to husbandry practices and poor health condition of the animals. A study was conducted in Ethiopia's largest municipal abattoir with the objective to assess the health problems of sheep and goats presented for slaughter using standard ante-mortem and post-mortem methodology.

Methods

A cross-sectional study using systematic random sampling was conducted on 384 sheep and 384 goats from January to July 2014.

Results

Soiled skin (69.1%), poor body condition (24.3%), and nostril discharge (19.5%) were common among both species at ante-mortem examination. Gross lesions were frequent in livers (39.7%) and lungs (37.2%), while pneumonia (18.1%) and adhesions (13.8%) were frequent in the lungs of sheep and goats, indicating stress-related illness. Parasitic lesions, especially fasciolosis (19.3%) and hydatid cysts (8.1%) were significantly more common in sheep livers (p 0.05). The direct financial loss from lesions in both species was 1,077,015 ETB or 53,851 USD per year, most of which was estimated to occur from carcass bruising.

Discussion

The findings indicate that reducing parasite burden and preventing carcass bruising through improved handling could significantly increase the profitability of the small ruminant meat sector in Ethiopia.

Prevalence of cystic echinococcosis among livestock in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in Uganda

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) remains a significant challenge in Uganda with precise status largely undocumented in most communities. To determine CE prevalence, post-mortem examination was done on 14 937 livestock (5873 goats, 1377 sheep, 3726 zebu cattle and 3054 Ankole cattle) slaughtered in abattoirs in the districts of Moroto in Karamoja region, Kumi in Teso region and Nakasongola and Luwero in Buganda region. The overall CE prevalence was 21.9% in sheep, 15.2% in zebu cattle, 5.5% in goats and 2.1% in Ankole cattle. Moroto district had a higher prevalence of CE than other districts with 31.3% in zebu cattle, sheep 28%, goats 29.1% and (0%) in Ankole cattle. On organ locations, the lungs were the most affected in all livestock in all the study areas. Considering cyst fertility, 33.9, 1.7 and 6.4% of Ankole cattle, sheep and zebu cattle respectively had fertile cysts in the liver while 4.5% of goats and 4% Ankole cattle had fertile cysts in the lungs. In conclusion, CE is widespread and occurs among cattle, sheep and goats in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in Uganda. Therefore, there is an urgent need to create awareness among the communities on role of livestock in CE epidemiology and transmission.

Cystic echinococcosis in cattle slaughtered at a slaughterhouse in Gessa, southern Ethiopia

Cystic echinococcosis is caused by the metacestode of the zoonotic flatworm Echinococcus granulosus. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2020 to August 2021 at the Gessa municipality abattoir in southern Ethiopia, through regular meat examinations and cyst characterization to determine the prevalence, organ distribution, and fertility of Cystic echinococcosis. The overall prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato was 17.9% (69/384) and has shown a statistically significant association (p < 0.05) with the body condition of cattle but not with other putative risk factors (p > 0.05). The odds of poor body condition cattle infected with CE was 1.29 times higher than medium body condition (OR = 0.506; CI = 0.566–2.96). Based on organ distribution of cysts, the lungs and liver were the most affected organs having a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) with the prevalence of CE. Based on the size of cysts, small (47.9%) size cysts revealed the highest prevalence as compared with large (33.3%) and medium (18.8%) sized cysts. On cyst characterization, the majority of Cystic echinococcosis were sterile cysts (55.4%) followed by fertile (38.8%) and calcified (8.7%) cysts and revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). Cyst number, organ localization, fertility of cyst, and cyst size have shown a strong positive correlation (r = 0.8686, r = 0.8393, r = 0.9506, and r = 0.9189) with the prevalence of CE, respectively. The presence of an overall high prevalence of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato in the present study required urgent action to interrupt the life cycle of Cystic echinococcosis and further studies using molecular techniques to characterize the circulating genotypes to prevent the risk of zoonosis in humans in the study area.