| Popis: |
A retrospective study was carried out from registers of the slaughterhouses of Constantine, Algeria, on 145,919 cattle and 345,282 sheep apparently healthy, slaughtered between 2009 and 2018. The objective was to estimate the prevalence of the two dominant parasitic infections which cause gross lesions in liver and lungs, i.e. cystic echinococcosis (CE) and Fasciola hepatica infection. The postmortem examination consisted in a visual inspection of the organs, palpation of lungs and livers, and systematic incision of livers, performed according to FAO procedures. The prevalence of F. hepatica infection was significantly higher in cattle (2.7%) than in sheep (0.2%). There was a non-significant decrease from 4.5 to 2.0% (p > 0.05) in the prevalence of F. hepatica in cattle during the 10-year period. The prevalence of CE in the livers and lungs was significantly higher in cattle (3.3% and 9.7%, respectively) than in sheep (0.6% and 1.1%, respectively). The prevalence of CE was significantly higher in lungs than in livers. These results showed the importance of these parasitic infections in the province of Constantine and its surroundings, which requires the implementation of control programs against these infections in both sheep and cattle. |
