Determine the Prevalence of Fasciolopsis in Cattle Slaughtered at Eke Market Abattoir, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

In the current study, feacal samples collected from the rectum of slaughtered cattle were analysed using the standard floatation technique (saturated sodium chloride) to recover the ova from the faecal samples to determine the prevalence of fasciolopsis among cattle slaughtered at Eke Market abattoir, Afikpo, Ebonyi State Nigeria. The liver and other organs of the slaughtered cattle were also tested post mortem for Fasciola species. Of the 256 cattle slaughtered at the Eke Market abattoir between May 2011 – April 2012, 93(37.89%) were found to be positive with F. hepatica, 60(23.44%) were infected with F. gigantica. In this study, the prevalence of fasciolopsis on the livers and other organs examined during post mortem examination were 66(25.78%) for F. hepatica and 42(16.41%) for F. gigantica. The most common fasciolopsis infection in the study area was F. hepatica. Balantidium coli infection was found among the cattle sampled, with a prevalence of 46(17.97%). Due to the high prevalence of fasciolopsis in the study area, veterinary and health officers should inspect meat slaughtered at the Eke Market before releasing it to the public for consumption. For the cattle headsmen, a range land should be supplied that is devoid of freshwater snails (the intermediate hosts) of Fasciola infections.