Prevalence of Taenia Saginata/Cysticercosis and Community Knowledge about Zoonotic Cestodes in and Around Batu, Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study on bovine cysticercosis was conducted from December 2014 to April 2015 on 384 zebu cattle slaughtered at Batu municipal abattoir to estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors. Moreover 100 residents in Batu town were randomly sampled for questionnaire survey to assess the community knowledge and public health significance of the disease. Similarly, inventory of pharmaceutical shops and collection of retrospective laboratory data of human taeniosis was made in Batu town. Out of the total 384 inspected animals, 10 animals had variable number of Cysticercus bovis giving an overall prevalence of 2.6%. Anatomical distribution of the cyst showed that the highest proportions of Cysticercus bovis cyst were observed in tongue 10 (41.66%) followed by heart 7 (29.17%), masseter 5 (20.83%) and triceps muscle 2 (8.33%). A total of 24 Cysticercus bovis were collected during the inspection; out of these, 7 (29.2%) were found to be viable cysts while 17 (70.8%) were non-viable cysts. There was no significant association between the prevalence of Cycticercus bovis and sex, origin and body condition of the cattle (p>0.05). Of the total 100 interviewed respondents, 59 (59%) had contracted T. saginata infection at least once in their life time. Human taeniosis prevalence showed significant difference with sex and occupation (p<0.05) being higher in male individuals than females (p=0.033, x2=4.524) and in butcher than people from other sectors of occupation (farmers, civil servants, merchants and students) (p=0.006, x2=14.572). 75% and 78% of respondents were aware about Taeniosis and source of infection that is raw or under cocked meat respectively. The retrospective laboratory data in two years (2014 to 2015) revealed that out of 13,591 patients stool examined, 148 (1.1%) had been positive for Taeniosis. An inventory of pharmaceutical shops during the two years revealed a total of 71,709 taenicidal drug doses worthing a total of 245,592 ETB (12,279.6 USD) were used. The finding indicates the importance of cysticercosis and taeniosis both in economic and public health aspects. Therefore, due attention should be given for awareness rising in the public and strict routine meat inspection should be undertaken to minimize the impact of this parasite.