Erratum to: Major metacestodes in small ruminants slaughtered at Dessie municipal abattoir, Eastern Ethiopia: prevalence, cyst viability, organ distribution and economic implications

Abstract

Present study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence, cyst viability, organ distribution and economic importance of major metacestodes in sheep and goats at Dessie municipal abattoir during the period between November 2011 and March 2012. Visceral organs in 930 slaughtered small ruminants (510 sheep and 420 goats) were examined during the study period, and economic losses were estimated based on the condemnation of organs infested by metacestodes. Out of 510 randomly selected slaughtered sheep, 45.69, 8.43 and 9.02 % were infected with Cysticercus tenuicollis, Cysticercus ovis and hydatid cysts, and of 420 randomly selected slaughtered goats, 72.38, 8.57, 1.90 % were infected with C. tenuicollis, C. ovis and hydatid cysts, respectively. In slaughtered sheep, the major organs infested with C. tenuicollis, C. ovis and hydatid cysts were the omentum (33.92 %), heart (6.78 %) and lung (4.31 %), respectively. Similarly in goats, the omentum (34.52 %), heart (1.90 %) and lung (0.95 %) were the most infested organs with C. tenuicollis, C. ovis and hydatid cysts, respectively. The only major risk factor observed was for C. tenuicollis prevalence which varied significantly with age both in sheep (P < 0.01, odds ratio (OR) = 2.5) and goats (P < 0.01, OR = 2.78). The viability of hydatid cyst (44.94 % sheep and 33.33 % goats) was higher than that of C. tenuicollis (33.22 % sheep and 24.96 % goats) in both small ruminants and C. ovis in sheep (38.59 %). The direct economic losses by organ condemnation due to metacestodes in small ruminants slaughtered at Dessie municipal abattoir were estimated to be 178,693.04 US dollar (USD) (3,284,378.29 Ethiopian Birr (ETB)). These results suggest that the high prevalence of metacestode infestations in this area is a great concern for both medical and veterinary authorities to design therapeutic and preventive programmes to overcome this problem.