Assessment of prevalence of hydatidosis in slaughtered Sawakny sheep in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Hydatidosis, or echincoccosis, is a serious medical and veterinary problem in many countries, particularly those with rural communities where there is a greater contact between dogs and domestic animals. Domestic livestock act as intermediate hosts which are the main reservoir for the disease in humans. It is therefore very important to estimate the prevalence of hydatid cysts in slaughtered animals since it can be transmitted to humans through dogs, which act as the final host for the disease. From this point of view, the present study was suggested to determine the prevalence of hydatidosis in Sawakny sheep slaughtered in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. During the course of the study 12,569 Sawakny sheep were inspected for hydatidosis infection. An overall prevalence of 1.06% was detected among the examined sheep, with the highest prevalence occurring in winter (1.38%) and lowest prevalence in summer (0.67%). Sheep aged 6-12 months had a higher rate of infection than older animals, and males were the predominant carriers of infection (97.7%) compared to females (2.3%). The liver was the most infected organ (79.1%), followed by the lungs (14.6%), while concurrent infections of both the liver and the lungs occurred in 6% of cases. The fertility and viability rates of hydatid cysts in the liver (70.1% and 85.1% respectively) were higher than that in any other organs. In conclusion, it is evident that fertile cysts in slaughtered sheep could have an important role in the continuation of hydatid cyst transmission to humans through dogs. Considerable effort should be devoted to controlling the transmission of cysts from abattoirs by the secure disposal of infected offal. In addition, plans are required for further epidemiological studies and control programs.

Epidemiological study of Echinococcus granulosus in sheep in the Gharb plain (North-West of Morocco)

“…Compared to other countries, we notice that our infestation rate is lower than the one recorded in Egypt by Osman et al (2014) (8.06%). However, our result is significantly higher than the one recorded by Almalki et al (2017)…”

Prevalence of Hydatidosis among Slaughtered Sheep in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…The highest condemnation rate is observed in summer and autumn. In a recent study, the highest rate recorded was in winter and spring [8]. While in another study, the highest prevalence of hydatid cyst was in summer [15].…”

“…Resulting in that infection ratio in imported sheep and goats higher than a local one [7]. Another study showed the relationship between the rate of infection and the effect of seasons on a one year (2015-2016) among Sawakny sheep, in Riyadh city [8]. The winter was the highest rate of infection at 1.38%, while the summer was the lowest rate of infection at 0.67%.…”

Frozen hydatid cysts can replace incineration and sterilize cysts

“…Hydatidosis is a serious medical and veterinary problem in many countries, particularly those with rural communities (Almalki et al ., 2017). A number of factors have been found to influence the frequency and intensity of canine echinococcosis.…”