Detection of Some Parasites in Livers and Spleens of Slaughtered Cattle

Abstract

Parasitic infections retarded growth rate, decrease milk and meat production, abortion, and mortality which leading to huge economic losses in addition to its zoonotic impacts. Slaughterhouses used to monitor the infectious disease among food animals and play an important role in eliminating various diseases and prevent the transmission of infectious and zoonotic diseases to humans. The study aimed to identify the protozoan and uncommon nematodes larvae that affect cattle in New-Valley Governorate, Egypt. All slaughtered cattle's slaughtered at El-Kharga abattoir were inspected for the presence of Theileria spp., Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), and Ascarid larvae during the period from July 2017 to the end of November 2018. Eighty livers and twenty spleens were examined by tissue impression smear stained with Giemsa stain to detect the prevalence of the parasites that embedded in the liver and spleen tissue, the prevalence of Theileria spp. was 62.5% in liver samples and 60 % in spleen samples, while prevalence of T. gondii was (10%) in the spleen. However, the percentage of T.gondii in the liver was 1.25%. Five percent of examined cattle's have been infected by Ascarid larva, which was found mainly in spleen. More education programs to farmers, veterinarians and improved public awareness are recommended. Broad spectrum anthelmintic must be applied to the animals' pasture. Future molecular biological studies are recommended to find out if the Theileria spp., Toxoplasma spp. and Ascarid larvae encountered in New-Valley cattle are pathogenic human genotypes will represent a serious health problem especially for populations who comes in contact with cattle.