The prevalence and animal demographic factors associated with occurance of fascioliasis among cattle slaughtered in Arua City Abattoir

Abstract

Fasciolosis is a serious animal health problems in many livestock farming areas of the world, causing considerable economic losses in the cattle industry mainly through mortality, liver condemnation, reduced production of meat, milk and expenditures on anthelmintics used to control the parasite (Yusuf et al., 2016). This study determined the prevalence of fascioliasis in cattle slaughtered at Arua City abattoir. A cross sectional abattoir based study was done to determine the prevalence of fascioliasis among slaughtered cattle. Animal breed and sex were determined by observing the phenotypic characteristics of the animals. Age was determined by assessing the eruption and wearing of permanent teeth. After slaughter, the liver was examined for presence of liver flukes by visual inspection, palpation, and incisions. The bile ducts and gall bladder were similarly examined for presence of mature liver flukes. A total of 346 slaughtered cattle were inspected at post-mortem. The study revealed a high (59.2%, 205/346) prevalence of bovine fascioliasis among cattle slaughtered at Arua City abattoir. There was no significant difference (p = 0.224) in prevalence of fascioliasis among different age groups of cattle sampled, and also between sex of the cattle (p = 0.500). The prevalence of fascioliasis among males was 58.9% (168/285) and females 60.6% (37/61) of the infested livers. The gross lesions observed in fasciola infested liver included; mild local hepatic necrosis (34.1%), severe localized liver fibrosis (19.6%) and Severe generalized fibrosis (5.2%). Severity of the fasciola infestation was significantly higher among cattle within age group of 3-3.5 years old 152 (62.8%) than any other age groups of cattle slaughtered in Arua City abattoir. In conclusion, the prevalence of bovine fascioliasis was high among cattle slaughtered in Arua City abattoir. Therefore, there is need for regular deworming of livestock, Continuous meat inspection and increase awareness among farmers and medical personnel in the area due to the zoonotic nature of fascioliasis.