Occurrence of Cysticercus bovis in Cattle Slaughtered at the Ibi Slaughter House, Ibi Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

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1 Journal of Veterinary Advances Occurrence of Cysticercus bovis in Cattle Slaughtered at the Ibi Slaughter House, Ibi Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria Karshima N. S., Pam V. A., Bobbo A. A. and Obalisa A. J Vet Adv 2013, 3(3): DOI: /jva Online version is available on:

2 ISSN: KARSHIMA ET AL. Occurrence of Cysticercus bovis in Cattle Original Article Slaughtered at the Ibi Slaughter House, Ibi Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria 1 Karshima N. S., 2 Pam V. A., 3 Bobbo A. A. and 1 Obalisa A. 1 Department of Animal Health, Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Parasitology, National Veterinary Research Institute Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria. 3 Department of Animal Health Technology, College of Agriculture Jalingo, PMB 1025 Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria. Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered at the Ibi slaughter house between January 2010 and December, 2012 using systematic veterinary inspection of carcasses. A total of 6007 carcasses were examined during the period of study with an overall prevalence of 4.8% (288/6007). Carcasses from male and female cattle represented 1.5% (89/6007) and 3.3% (199/6007) of the overall prevalence. There was a highly significant statistical difference between the male and female prevalence of bovine cysticercosis observed (P= ). The years 2010, 2011 and 2012 recorded prevalence rates of 1.5% (87/6007), 1.6% (98/6007) and 1.8% (105/6007) respectively which was highly statistically significant (P< ). Cattle between the age groups 1-3, >3-6 and >6 recorded prevalence rates of 0.53% (32/6007), 1.82% (109/6007) and 2.45% (147/6007) respectively. Prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in relation to management practices were 3.85% (231/6007) and 0.95% (57/6007) for nomadic and sedentary practices respectively. This difference was statistically insignificant (P >0.05). The monthly distribution of Cysticercus bovis among carcasses was highest 0.62% (37/6007) in July, followed by 0.6% (36/6007) in September and the lowest prevalence of 0.21% (13/6007) was observed in January. This was highly statistically significant (P< ). The result of this study have shown the existence of Cysticercus bovis in beef carcasses processed at the Ibi slaughter house which is a possible public health risk in the study area. Keywords: Occurrence, Cysticercus bovis slaughtered cattle, slaughter house. Corresponding author: Department of Animal Health, Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria. Received on: 15 Mar 2013 Revised on: 23 Mar 2013 Accepted on: 25 Mar 2013 Online Published on: 31 Mar J. Vet. Adv., 2013, 3(3):

3 OCCURRENCE OF CYSTICERCUS BOVIS IN CATTLE SLAUGHTERED AT Introduction Bovine cysticercosis is a food-borne parasitic zoonosis caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia saginata commonly referred to as the beef tapeworm. This larva is meat-borne and human infection results from the ingestion of raw or undercooked beef. This condition is associated with tissue infection and the larval stage is referred to as Cysticercus bovis. The Cysticercus bovis is of great public health significance especially in developing countries where it invades the tissues of the eye as well as brain and spinal cord causing ocular and neurocysticercosis respectively (Pawlowski and Murrell, 2000; Phiri et al., 2003; Engels et al., 2003). Infection with the Cysticercus stage is responsible for almost all serious human disease caused by these taeniid tapeworms (Nash, 2003). These cestodes are cosmopolitan in distribution, and are highly endemic in Latin America, Africa and Asia where poverty conditions such as poor sanitation, and intimate contact between humans and their livestock are common (Murrell, 2005; Pawlowski et al., 2005). It has been estimated that millions of people worldwide are infected with this condition. During the last decade more attention is given to this zoonosis in sub-saharan Africa because of the growing recognition of the importance of neurocysticercosis in epilepsy (Diop et al., 2003). Although the life cycle cannot be maintained in regions that have adequate sanitation and good animal husbandry practices, these regions are still vulnerable, owing to immigration of people from highly endemic regions carrying infections of the adult stage (taeniasis). Such introduced infections account for an increased global distribution to nonendemic regions such as in the United States and Europe. These human carriers can contaminate the environment of others, leading to secondary infections (Murrell, 2005; Pawlowski et al., 2005). The infection is acquired in cattle by grazing on pasture contaminated with faeces of humans and other cattle infected with Taenia saginata. Cysticercus bovis infection in cattle may not show any clinical disease and therefore goes un-noticed except during abattoir meat inspection. These larvae remain embedded in the tissues of cattle posing serious public health threats. Cattle are a major source of animal protein providing most of the 65g of animal protein requirement to the populace of the study area. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence of Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered at the Ibi slaughter house between January 2010 and December, Materials and Methods Study Area This study was carried out in Ibi Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria. The State is located in the North-Eastern, Nigeria between latitude and N of the equator and longitude and E of the Greenwich meridian. Ibi LGA has two seasons; the rainy season which extends from April to October and the dry season which last for five months extending from November to March. The annual rainfall ranges between 1058 mm and 1300 mm with a temperature range of 28 to 39 0 C. Antemortem Inspection Using verbal interview at the slaughter house, information on the ages of the cattle to be slaughtered was obtained from the butchers. The sex and breed of the cattle at the lairage were also determined using physical examination. The ages of the cattle were confirmed using aging by dentition. Postmortem Inspection The slaughter house was visited thrice every week; on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays between January, 2010 and December, Carcasses of cattle slaughtered on these days were thoroughly and systematically inspected by visual examination, palpation and incision into organs such as the tongue, masseter muscles, myocardium, triceps, thigh muscles, diaphragm, liver, spleen and intestinal mucosa using the methods earlier described by Okafor (1988) and Anosike (2001). All carcasses that were observed to habour Cysticercus bovis were noted and recorded as positive for bovine cysticercosis. 131 J. Vet. Adv., 2013, 3(3):

4 KARSHIMA ET AL. Results A total of 6007 carcasses were examined during the period of study with an overall prevalence of 4.8% (288/6007) as shown in Tables 1,2 and 3. Carcasses from male and female cattle represented 1.5% (89/6007) and 3.3% (199/6007) of the overall prevalence (Table 1). There was a highly significant statistical difference between the male and female prevalence of bovine cysticercosis observed (P= ). The years 2010, 2011 and 2012 recorded prevalence rates of 1.5% (87/6007), 1.6% (98/6007) and 1.8% (105/6007) respectively (Table 1). Cattle between the age groups 1-3, >3-6 and >6 recorded prevalence rates of 0.53% (32/6007), 1.82% (109/6007) and 2.45% (147/6007) respectively (Table 2). Prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in relation to management practices were 3.85% (231/6007) and 0.95% (57/6007) for nomadic and sedentary practices respectively (Table 2). This difference was statistically insignificant (P >0.05). The monthly distribution of Cysticercus bovis among carcasses was highest 0.62% (37/6007) in July, followed by 0.6% (36/6007) in September and the lowest prevalence of 0.21% (13/6007) was observed in January (Table 3). Table 1: Sex and year based prevalence of Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered at the Ibi slaughter house. Variable Number of carcasses Number positive for Prevalence examined Cysticercus bovis Sex Female Male Total Year Total Sex: X 2 = 15.30, P = , Odd Ratio = , 95% CI = , Year: X 2 = 12014, P < , Degree of freedom = 4 Table 2: Prevalence of Cysticercus bovis in relation to age group and management practices of cattle slaughtered at the Ibi slaughter house. Variable Number of carcasses Number positive for Prevalence examined Cysticercus bovis Age group (Years) > > Total Management practice Nomadic Sedentary Total Management practice: X 2 = 0.01, P = , Odd Ratio = , 95% CI = , Discussion Bovine cysticercosis has been reported by several workers in Nigeria (Dada, 1980; Okolo, 1986; Okafor, 1988; Opara, 2006; Usip et al., 2011) as well as other parts of the world like Iran (Garedaghi et al., 2012) and Ethiopia (Degefu, 2005; Kebede et al., 2008, 2009) confirming the endemicity of the disease in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. The overall prevalence of 4.8% revealed by this study is higher than the findings of 2.09% in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State (Usip et al., 2011), 0.7% in Nsuka, Enugu State and 3.0% in Iran (Garedaghi et 132 J. Vet. Adv., 2013, 3(3):

5 OCCURRENCE OF CYSTICERCUS BOVIS IN CATTLE SLAUGHTERED AT al., 2012). However, this result is lower than the reports of Ibrahim (1990), Abunna et al. (2008) and Kebede et al. (2009) who reported prevalence rates of 21.7%, 26.25% and 13.3% in Ethiopia respectively. This prevalence may not be unconnected with the poverty level and poor sanitation of the populace in the study area. This prevalence is of concern considering the public health importance of this zoonotic metacestode in causing ocular and neurocysticercosis and the growing recognition of its involvement in epilepsy in sub-saharan Africa (Diop et al., 2003). Table 3: Monthly distributions of Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered at the Ibi slaughter house. Month Number of carcasses Number positive for Monthly Prev. Overall Prev. examined Cysticercus bovis January February March April May June July August September October November December Total X 2 = , P < , Degree of freedom = 110 The higher infection rate recorded by females than the males is in agreement with the report of Ngwu et al. (2004). The higher infection rate observed in females may be attributed to stress associated with hormonal in-balances during pregnancy thus increasing their risk to the infection. Also females are usually kept in herds longer for the purpose of production than males. This also increases their chances of acquiring the infection during grazing. The higher infection rate recorded in 2012 when compared to other years may not be unconnected with the higher number of cattle examined during this year. Meat inspection is a skill that improves with time following continuous practice. This might have increased the inspectors ability to detect the presence of these metacestodes over time. Also the higher infection rate observed among cattle >6 years may be due to reasons related to their large number inspected and possibly because they stayed longer in the herds. Cattle raised under nomadic system of management showed higher infection rate than 133 J. Vet. Adv., 2013, 3(3): those raised under sedentary system. Sedentary cattle are confirmed within organized grazing areas. This reduces the risk of consuming pasture contaminated with faeces unlike what is commonly observed in nomadic system where most at times grazing is on contaminated pasture. The higher infection rate observed in the month of July may be explained by the availability of grazing pasture that brings cattle together during grazing thereby exposing them to the infection. Rainfall washes large land areas that might have been contaminated with human and animal waste to grazing land thus contaminating the grazing areas. This may be another possible explanation for the higher prevalence observed in July and other periods of the rainy season. References Abunna F, Tilahun G, Megersa B, Regassa A, Kumsa B (2008). Bovine cysticercosis in cattle slaughtered at Awassa municipal abattoir, Ethiopia. Zoonoses Pub. Hlth., 55, Anosike JC (2001). Some observations on Taenia saginata cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle in Nigeria. Int. J.

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