Incidence of Cystic Echinococcosis in Slaughtered Animals at Al-Diwaniyah City, Iraq

Cystic echinococcosis, is an infection caused by tapeworms of the genus Echinococcus, which infect a wide range of domestic and wild animals in addition to humans. Estimation the prevalence rate of echinococcosis among different slaughtered animals, and their organs with evaluation the association of infection to a number of risk factors (age and sex). An overall 4529 animals including buffaloes (no = 142), cattle (no = 1877), camels (no = 29), goats (no = 306), and sheep (no = 2175) slaughtered at different official and private slaughterhouses located in Al-Diwaniyah (Al-Qadisiyah, Iraq) were examined grossly to identify the presence of echinococcosis. The total prevalence rate of cystic echinococcosis was 0.93%, which differed insignificantly among study animals: buffalo (2.11%), cattle (1.17%), goats (0.33%), and sheep (0.74%), but not in camels (0%). However, buffaloes and cattle were significantly at higher risk of infection than others. In concerning to body organs, cystic echinococcosis was seen significantly in the liver but decreased significantly in the spleen and brain when compared to the lung and mesentery. Regarding age, the prevalence rate of cystic echinococcosis was significantly higher in animals aged ≥9 years old (18.75%) than in those of ≤ 1 (0.05%), 2-4 (0.24%), and 5-8 (3.7%) years old. Whilst the risks of infection were elevated significantly in infected animals aged ≥ 9 followed by 5-8 years, but reduced in those aged 2-4 and ≤ 1 year old. Although insignificant differences were recorded in the prevalence rate of cystic echinococcosis between females (1.34%) and males (0.24%), females were significantly at higher risk of infection than males. Sheep may undoubtedly play a significant part in the maintenance of the E. granulosus life cycle in the studied locations, given that cattle have a greater prevalence and risk of contracting cystic echinococcosis than other species. Thus, the safe removal of contaminated offal, particularly from sheep and cattle, would greatly lessen the spread of cysts from slaughterhouses to possible hosts in this area.