International Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health

International Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health Vol. 8 (1), pp. 001-007, January, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Prevalence and economic importance of liver parasites in sheep and goats slaughtered at Addis Ababa abattoir enterprise in Ethiopia

Yehualashet Bayu¹*, Aklilu Asmelash¹, Kaleab Zerom² and Tsegaye Ayalew¹

¹Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Haramaya University, P.O.Box, 138, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

²Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Semera University, Semera

Accepted 13 November, 2016

Abstract

This research was designed to determine the prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis, Fasciola and Hydatid cyst and to estimate the magnitude of the direct financial losses attributed to the condemned liver of sheep and goats slaughtered in the abattoir. Ante-mortem examination was done to determine the origin and age of animals slaughtered. Post-mortem inspection was conducted on a total of 1152 animals comprising 576 sheep and 576 goats and (288/1152) 25% livers were condemned due to parasitic induced gross lesions. From 176 (30.6%) positive sheep, 45 (7.81%) were infected by C. tenuicollis, 108 (18.75%) by Fasciola and 23 (3.99%) by Hydatid cyst. Similarly from 112 positive goats, 91 (15.8%), 13 (2.26%) and 8 (1.39%) C. tenuicollis, Fasciola and Hydatid cyst were recorded. Fasciola was leading cause of liver condemnation in sheep and C. tenuicollis in goats. Hydatid cyst was responsible for lowest condemnation rate. A statistically significant difference was observed between species and origin of small ruminants for Fasciola, C. tenuicollis and Hydatid cyst with P < 0.05. The abattoir’s financial losses due to condemnation of liver by parasitic induced gross lesions accounts approximately 157,684 ETB annually.

Key words: Prevalence, liver, Fasciola, Hydatid cyst, C. tenuicollis, sheep, goats, Addis Ababa.