Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 cattle slaughtered at
Elobied slaughterhouse in North Kordofan state, Sudan, during the period
extended from April to June 2013 to estimate the prevalence of
Cysticercus bovis infection in slaughtered cattle and to investigate
potential risk factors associated with the disease.
Routine meat inspection procedure was employed to detect the presence
of Cysticercus bovis cysts in predilection sites, which were shoulder
muscle, heart, masseter (cheek) muscle, diaphragm, tongue and liver.
The study showed that the overall prevalence was 1%.
A univariate analysis was performed using the chi-square as a test of
significance for the association between the infection and the investigated
potential risk factors. No significant association was detected between
cysticercus bovis infection and each of sex (p-value = 0.45), age (p-value
= 0.32), body condition (p-value = 0.69), breed (p-value = 0.95), animal
source (p-value = 0.92) and grazing type (p-value = 0.86).
Our study showed that the liver was the only infected organ, while no
infection was found in the rest of the organs.
Macroscopic examination of the 18 cysts (found in 2 affected animals)
revealed that 9 cysts (50%) were viable, while 9 cysts (50%) were
calcified.
