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

Abstract

Hydatidosis is considered endemic in Morocco and caused serious health problems in ruminants. The aim of this research is to present an epidemiological study on echinococcosis in sheep. The study was carried out between April 2016 and May 2017. A total number of 1600 sheeps was examined via autopsy for Echinococcus granulosus in various slaughterhouses in the Gharb plain of Morocco. The Results of the study showed that the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis was 7.63%. The infection was not significant among sheep which age is\ 1 year (2.67%), while it increases among those which age is from 1 to 3 years old (8.63%). It also grows significantly among sheep which age is over 3 years old (11.71%). Parasitized at 62%, the liver is the most affected organ followed by the lungs (38%). Protoscoleces are only found in liquid cysts and contribute to their fertility which is estimated at 66.66% in the liver and 57.74% in the lungs. In addition, the prevalence of calcified cysts is 12.24% in the liver and 21.11% in the lungs. Examination of the fertile cysts revealed a high level of Protoscoleces viability, whether it's in the liver (65.93%) or in the lungs (59.30%). This study also shows how the evolution of echinococcosis is closely linked to sex and age.

Cystic echinococcosis in sheep and goats of Lebanon

“…Cysts in sheep were predominantly located in the liver (58.2%), whereas in goats, lung was the most affected organ (61.3%). This has also been demonstrated in other Mediterranean Arab and non-Arab countries, where a high infection rate was seen in sheep with the liver being the most affected organ (Varcasia et al, 2006(Varcasia et al, , 2020Grosso et al, 2012;Almalki et al, 2017;Brik et al, 2018;Toulah and Albalawi, 2019). A different situation has been observed in epidemiological studies conducted in Iran and Pakistan, where sheep had highest infection in lungs and liver was the most infected organ in goats (Lotfi et al, 2010;Mehmood et al, 2020a).…”

Biliary Helminthiasis: Endoscopic Diagnosis and Treatment

“…Eggs in soil can stay viable for up to one year. Disease is commonly in people involved in raising sheep, due to their role as an intermediate host and presence of dogs that are allowed to eat the offal of infected sheep (Brik et al, 2018).…”

Modelling diagnostics for Echinococcus granulosus surveillance in sheep using Latent Class Analysis: Argentina as a case study

“…Necropsy allows for E. granulosus to be differentiated from other infections, leading to a high diagnostic specificity [ 22 ]. However, in early infections cysts can be small, resulting in decreased sensitivity [ 23 , 24 ]. Additionally, in highly endemic areas there are often no specific slaughter premises or sufficient necropsy expertise, making it difficult to collect such data.…”