An Epidemiologic Study on Sheep Hydatidosis in Khartoum State, Sudan

Abstract

An abattoir survey was conducted on 244 sheep slaughtered at Elkadaro abattoir in Khartoum, Sudan, during the survey period which extended from October to November 2010. The objective was to estimate the prevalence of hydatid cysts in sheep and to investigate risk factors associated with the disease. Routine meat inspection procedure was employed to detect the presence of the hydatid cysts in visceral organs (liver, lung and peritoneum). Selected sheep were originated from five states: Kordofan, Khartoum, Blue Nile, South Darfur and Elgedarif. The overall prevalence of hydatid cysts was 10.7%. The distribution of hydatid cysts infection according to age of sheep was: 8.6% in < 1 year, 9.7% in 1 – 2 years, 10% in > 2 -3 years and 28.6% in > 3 years. The distribution of hydatid cyst infection according to the area (origin) of sheep was: 23.3% in South Darfur, 11.3% in Blue Nile, 17.9% in Kordofan, 3.4% in Khartoum and 0% in Elgedarif. As for body condition, the prevalence was: 9.5% in animals in good body condition, 15.4% in animals in medium body condition and 25% animals in poor body condition. Regarding distribution by sex, the prevalence of hydatid cyst was: 14.4% in female and 8.4% in male. Using the Chi-square for analysis, this study found significant association between hydatidosis in sheep and each of the following risk factors: origin (p 10 – value = 0.003), age of animal (p – value = 0.05) and location of cysts (p – value = 0.012). Other risk factors investigated were not found significant. Our study showed that liver was the most infected organs, 53.8% were in liver only, 23.1% were in lung only, 15.4% of cyst infected both liver and lung together (mixed infection), and 7.7% were in peritoneum . Microscopic examination of the 36 cysts revealed that 22 (61%) were fertile cysts, 9 (25%) were sterile cysts and 5 (14%) were calcified cysts. Within fertile cysts, 13 (59%) cysts were viable and 9 (41%) cysts were not viable. The percentage of viable cysts from total of cysts is 36%. Regarding the size (volume) and nature of cysts 14 (39%) cysts were 2 – 3 ml, 11 (30%) cysts were < 2 ml, 6 (17%) cysts were > 3 ml and 5 (14%) cysts were calcified.