PREVALENCE, CYST VIABILITY, AND ORGAN DISTRIBUTION OF BOVINE CYSTICERCOSIS, AND TAENIA SAGINATA IN HUMANS AT HARAMAYA AND HARAR MUNICIPAL ABATTOIRS, EASTERN HARARGHE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Across-sectional study design was used from March 2023 to August 2024 at Harar and Haramaya to investigate the prevalence, cyst viability, and organ distribution of bovine cysticercosis in beef cattle, and a Retrospective study design was used to estimate the occurrence of Taeniosis in the human population in the study area. Simple random sampling where employed for the collection of data. The study was performed based on abattoir sample collection, Questionnaire survey and Retrospective data. Postmortem inspection of carcasses and organs of slaughtered cattle in Harar and Haramaya Municipal Abattoirs, cyst viability tests, and interviews with randomly selected meat consumers were undertaken. The post-mortem inspection showed that of the 324 cattle slaughtered for human consumption and examined for the presence of cysticerci of T. saginata, 7(8.85%) at Harar city and 24(9.8%) at Haramaya town harbored at least one cyst in the muscles or organs inspected. The collected samples were analyzed by using SPSS version 25. Of the edible anatomical sites with cysticerci, heart 18(5.6%), tongue 4(1.2%), lung 3(0.9%), liver 3(0.9%), masseters muscle 2(0.6%), and Kidney 1(0.1%) of relative prevalence, total cyst count and cyst viability. These edible sites are preferred above others by local people for the preparation and consumption of raw or inadequately cooked meat dishes that are locally served as kurt, kitfo, and dullet. The interviews revealed that among the 100 study participants, Harar city had the highest awareness about T. saginata 46 (92%) than Haramaya town 40 (80%), eating habit of raw meat or under cooked meat had highest in Haramaya town 48 (96%) than Harar city 41 (82%), and infection with proglottids of T. saginata was higher in Haramaya town than Harar. From infested respondent, more than 85% observed T. saginata proglottids in their stool, and the rest observed proglottids on their underwear. This indicated that existing meat inspection processes were inadequate to prevent carcasses infected with T. saginata cysticerci from reaching consumers. The three-year retrospective data indicated that out of the examined stool of 9940 and 13,353 people, 18 and 61 had T. saginata from Haramaya and Haramaya University Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, respectively. Both the active abattoir and the questionnaire survey concluded that bovine cysticercosis caused by C. bovis/T. saginata is a major disease in livestock and humans. The promotion of policies to upgrade existing meat inspection procedures and public education to ensure effective prevention.of T. saginata taeniosis in humans was recommended. Keyword: Bovine cysticercosis, Cyst viability, Haramaya, Harar, Organ distribution, Prevalence, Retrospective.