THE OCCURRENCE OF CYSTICERCOSIS IN CATTLE and TAENIASIS IN MAN IN UYO, CAPITAL CITY OF AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA Usip 1*, L. P. E., Isaac 2, L., Amadi 3, E. C., Utah 4, E. and Akpaudo 1, U. ABSTRACT 1 Dept. of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Uyo, Uyo 2 Dept. of Animal Science, Faculty of Agric. University of Uyo, Uyo. 3 Dept.of Applied and Environmental Biology, Parasitology Unit, Rivers State University of Technology. 4 Dept. of Biological Science, Cross River State University of Science and Technology. *Corresponding Author, E-mail: usiplaw@yahoo.com, Phone: 08065928365 A study on the occurrence of Cysticercosis in cattle slaughtered in Uyo Urban, capital city of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria was investigated between June 2010 and November 2010. The occurrence and distribution of Taenia saginata(t.saginata) cysts among organ and muscle group was determined by slicing the arm muscles, thigh muscles and the internal organs of the carcass of naturally cattle from abattoir. A total of 4604 carcasses of cattle were examine by routine inspection and detail examination, out of which 96(2.09%) of the cattle were with Cysticerci. Female cattle were more susceptible 33(3.17%) than male cattle 63(1.77%), out of 1042 females and 3562 males respectively. (P < 0.05, χ 2 = 7.3456). High infection rate was recorded in the internal organs (1.22%) than in the thigh (0.52%) and arm (0.35%). Detail meat inspection (2.8%) was superior to routine meat inspection (1.9%). Taenia saginata infections were determined by microscopic examination through direct and sedimentation of faecal samples. Out of 6255 faecal samples, 178 (2.85%) were positive for T. saginata eggs with 2.47% infection rate in males and 3.07% infection rate in females. The result indicated that T. saginata infection is still a significant public health problem in Uyo and more attention should be paid to internal organs (heart and liver) during meat inspection. More so the grazing habit of cattle should be monitored with a view to ensuring that they consume wholesome forage to reduce infection. INTRODUCTION Cysticercosis is an infection caused by cysticercus, larval state of Taenia species in bovine. Taeniasis is the intestinal infection of human with the adult state of the Taenia Species. Taeniasis is caused by infesting inadequately cooked beef or pork that contains the larvae of T. saginata or T. solium. Beneson, 1990. Taeniasis may affect about 100million people worldwide (FAO 1991). T. saginata infection is common in areas of the world where beef is commonly eaten and human sanitation is poor. It is commonly found throughout South America, North America and Africa. T. solium is more prevalent in poorer communities and is more common in South East Asia, China, India, Latin America, Mexico, Africa and rarely is United State of America. People with adult Taenia sp often are asymptomatic. Infected people may become aware of infection by noticing proglottid segments of tapeworm in their faeces. The general symptoms include nausea, intestinal upset vague abdomen symptom such as hinge, pains, diarrhea, constipation, or chronic indigestion and increased eosinophilis. A more severe form of Taenia, cystercercis can occur upon ingestion of T. solium egg which may hatch into cysticerci and when the cysticerci are located in the eye, heart, brain, or central nervous system; the eye may be affected and could lead to bladder seizures, headache, dematis (reduced mental function, neurocysticercosis could lead to traumatic neulogical damage or epileptic seizure, (Huges, 1993 and Cultha 2006). Cysticercosis in cattle causes economic losses in cattle, Downgrading and condemnation of carcasses. The annual losses in cattle feed lots in South Africa due to cysticercosis may reach 3,300,00 US Dollars per year (Dorny 2002). In Assuit Governorate, the economic losses in cattle and buffalows feed lots during 1989 1992 due to Cysticercus bovis were 112000 (Basem et al, 2009). In Akwa Ibom State, thousands of cattle are processed as meat for human consumption each year and greater percentages of the meat is consumed in Uyo which is highly thickly populated. However, there is paucity of information on the prevalence of cysticercosis among cattle brought in for slaughter in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Also everyday patients suffering from gastrointestinal disturbances who attended major hospital in Akwa Ibom State are treated without examination of faecal sample for Taenia egg. Therefore, this study aims to examine the prevalence of Cysticercus bovis in slaughtered cattle from abattoir in Uyo and investigate the occurrence of Taeniasis in human in the area. NJAFE VOL. 7 No. 2, 2011 47
MATERIALS AND METHODS The study area Uyo, is the Capital City of Akwa Ibom State in the south southern part of Nigeria. The city is fast developing with corresponding increased in population. The area is located within the tropical rainforest belt. It lies between latitude 4 0 S and 5 0 05 N and longitude 7 0.45 and 8 0.02 E. There are two seasons; the dry season occurs between November to April and the rainy/wet season occur between May and October. The sampling sites were the two Abattoirs; Iba Oku and Ekim Itam slaughter houses. The two slaughter houses are temporary located in an area of about 50 square meters each. They lack modern facilities and equipments such as lairage, skinning cradles and over-head rails. However, they have dug in cemented water tank for water storage, stuning equipments, slaps, electricity and pipe-borne water. Detection of cysticercosis in animals The study was carried out in the months of June and November 2010. Each of the Abattoir were visited bimonthly. Carcasses of cattle were with the consent of their owners and with the help of a veterinary surgeon and clearance from the health inspectors. The ages of the cattle which ranged between 2 years and 8 years were supplied by the owner. A total of 4604 slaughtered animals carcasses were by routine and detailed visual inspection measures (Gracey et al 1999). The arm muscles, thigh muscles and the internal organs of heart, liver, lungs and kidneys were specifically and carefully sliced 5mm thick as described by Fan et al (1989) Fan et al (1992), Urguhart (1994), and Kyvsgaard et al. (1989). Lung and kidney were sliced specifically for viable Cysticerci. Cyst formed were excised and carefully removed from the connective tissue and placed in labeled sample bottles and were taken to the laboratory. Identification of recovered cysticerci The viable Cysticercei were submitted to HCl juice for 45 minutes at 37 0 C and there after to bile juice for 5 to 10 minutes. It was then compressed between two glass slides and by (10x) objective lenses of a binocular microscope. Identification of Cysticercus bovis was based on Murrel et al. (1986). Detection of taeniasis in human In this study, 6255 faecal samples were collected from patient suffering from gastrointestinal disturbances who attended the three major hospitals in Uyo, namely; University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo (3,155 patients), University of Uyo Medical Centre (2,101 patients) and St. Luke s General Hospital Anua, Uyo (999 patients). Each sample measuring 10grams was collected in a clean labeled plastic container with snap on lids. The faecal samples were taken only in the morning, analyzed macroscopically. Direct and sedimentation methods were employed (Urauhart, 1994) and indirect method where a small piece of (1gm) sample was suspended in 5ml deionised water and the suspension was centrifuged at 2500rpm for 10 minutes. The pellet was resuspended once more in deionised water and centrifugation was repeated. Afterwards the pellet was placed on a glass slide and under the microscope. Identification was based on (Murrel et al, 1986). RESULTS The result of monthly occurrence of Cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle in this study (Table 1) indicates that out of 4606 carcasses of cattle between June 2010 and November 2010, 96 cattle representing 2.09% were with Cysticercosis. There was no significant difference in monthly occurrence of the Cysticercosis (P > 0.05). Table 1: Monthly occurrence of cysticercosis in cattle Months No. of cattle No. % Infected June 2010 789 18 2.28 July 2010 735 14 1.90 Aug 2010 724 13 1.80 Sept 2010 780 16 2.05 Oct 2010 786 17 2.25 Nov 2010 790 18 2.28 Total 4604 96 2.095 The result in Table 2, showed the sex related occurrence of Cysticercosis in cattle. The occurrence of Cysticercosis was higher in females 33(3.17%) out of 1042 cattle than in male 63(1.77%) out of 3562 cattle (P < 0.05, X 2 = 7.3456). NJAFE VOL. 7 No. 2, 2011 48
Table 2: Sex specific prevalence of cysticercosis in cattle Male Female Month June 2010 605 12 1.98 184 6 3.26 July 2010 580 10 1.72 155 4 2.58 Aug 2010 576 9 1.56 145 4 2.70 Sept 2010 599 11 1. 84 181 5 2.76 Oct 2010 602 11 1. 83 184 6 3. 26 Nov 2010 600 10 1.67 190 8 4.21 Total 3562 63 1.77 1,042 33 3.17 The age related prevalence of cysticercosis in the cattle revealed that the level of cysticercosis distribution was higher among cattle 3 years and above 75 (266%) than those under 3 years of age 21(118%) out of 2821 and 1,783 cattle respectively (Table 3). Table 3: Age specific prevalence of cysticercosis in cattle Below 3 Years Above 3 years 8 years 1783 21 1.18 2821 75 2.66 Table 4: Predilection site of cysticercosis in cattle No. of carcasses 4604 Detail meat examination (2.8%) Routine meat inspection (1.9%) Arm muscles Thigh muscles Internal organs (heart, liver, lungs, kidney) No. Infected % Infected No. Infected % Infected No. Infected % Infected 16 0.35 24 0.52 56 1.22 High infection rate was recorded in the internal organs (1.22%) than in the thigh (0.52%) and arm muscles (0.35%). The occurrence of Cysticercosis by detail meat inspection was 2.8% while routine meat inspection was 1.9% (Table 4). Out of 6255 faecal samples in this study, 178 (2.85%) were positive for Taenia saginata egg. In the positive samples, 119(3.07%) was for women and 59 (2.47%) for men. Table 5: T. Saginata positivity in human faecal sample Sex No. Examined No. +ve % Infected Women 3868 119 3.07 Men 2387 59 2.47 Total 6255 178 2.85 DISCUSSION The occurrence of Cysticercosis in cattle in this study is higher than those recorded by Basem et al. (2009) (1.69%), Rodriguez Hidalgo (2003) (0.32%) and Huges (1993) (0.23%). On the contrary, the occurrence of Cysticercosis in this study was lower than those reported by Oryan, 1995 (7.7%) Dorny (2002), (6.1%) and Opara et al, 2006 (26%). The variation in the reported prevalence rates may be due to several factors such as climate change, variation in sanitation habit between localities, number of the collected sample as well as control measures and eradication programs. The high occurrence of Cysticercosis in females cattle than in males is similar to those of Besem et al (2009) and Dorny (2000) but differs from those of Pramanik et al (1984) and Okafor (1988) who observed no significant differences in their recorded prevalence between sexes of the animal. The higher susceptibility of female cattle may be due to the fact that females are presented for slaughter at older age than males after the end of their breeding and milking period, while males are fathered for a short period indoors and are fed mainly on dry ration until their slaughter which reduces the chances of contracting the infection (Dorny, 2000). The same reasons hold for high numbers of males slaughtered than females. NJAFE VOL. 7 No. 2, 2011 49
With respect to age distribution of infection, the high occurrence of the Cysticercosis among cattle with age above 3 years (2.66%) compressed to that reported by other investigations Pramanik et al. (1984), Okolo (1986) and Dorny (2000). However, Oryan et al (1995) found no variation in the infection rate in animal with regards to age. The positive age correlation may be due to the cumulative exposure of cattle above 3 years to different sources of infection. The highest level of infection occurs in the internal organs/heart (1.22%). This finding is similar to that of Marshall and Saleh (1992) but in disparity with that of Oryan et al (1995) who observed higher infection in the muscles of the slaughtered animals. The variation in the predilection seats may be attributed to the different management practices of the animals. The occurrence of taeniasis among the 6,255 patients in this study shows 178 (2.65%) infections with higher susceptibility 3.0% in women than in men 2.47%. The recorded result is higher when compared with those of Buchy 2003 (0.75%), Martinez-maya 2003 (1.2%) and Cultha 2006 (0.7%). The differences may be due to differences in location of study as well as personal hygiene, educational level, control and eradication programmes in such localities. Both gender are equally but the higher susceptibility of the women in this study may be due to exposure and immune suppression by other physiological activities such as menstruation and pregnancy. CONCLUSION The result obtained in this study confirmed the present of Cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle in Uyo. Eradication of Cysticercosis requires co-operation between the public health practitioner in Uyo Akwa Ibom State. Detail meat inspection revealed more infection than routine meat inspection. The internal organs should be paid particular attention during meat inspection. There is need for public health education, proper treatment and regular medication of cattle and regular inspection and improvement of facilities in slaughter houses. Moreover, the feedings regime and general management of cattle should be approached from the perspective of improved hygiene conditions. The fact that the high infection of cattle with Cysticercosis results in a corresponding high infection of humans with T. saginata makes it imperative that this be given serious attention. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We are sincerely grateful to the vertinary surgeon, health inspectors and owners of cattle in Iba Oku and Ekim Itam Abattoirs. We also appreciate the efforts of the laboratory staff in the three hospitals for the collection of faecal samples REFERENCES Basem, R. N. Abdo, Amal S. M. Sayed, Asmaa A. A. Hussein, Moshen, I. Arafa, (2009). Occurrence of Cysticercosis in cattle and buffaloes and Taenia saginata in man in Assiut Governance of Egypt. Animal Research Institute, Assiut, Egypt. Dept. of Animal Hygiene and Zoonoses, Fac. Vet. Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt. Beneson, A. (1990). Intestinal tapeworms. In Topley & Wilson s Microbiology and microbial infection, 9 th ed. Oxford University press inc., New York. volume (5): pp. 521 537. Cultha, G. (2006). The distribution of patients with intestinal parasites presenting at the Parasitoloty Laboratory of the Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty. Turkiyo Parazotolojii Dergisi,30(4): 302 304. Dorny, P. (2000): Sero-epidemiological study of Taenia saginata cysticercosis in Belgian cattle. Vet. Parasitol. 88(1-2):43-49. Dorny, P. (2002): A sero-epidemiological study of bovine cysticercosis in Zambia. Vet. Parasitol. 104(3):211-215. Fan, P. C.; Chung, W. C.; Lin, C. Y. and Pawlowski, Z. S. (1992). Experimental infection with Taenia saginata (Poland strain) in Taiwanese pigs. Journal of Helminthology, 66, 198 204. Fan, P. C.; Lin, C. Y. and Wu, C. C. (1989), Experimental Studies of Korea Taenia (Cheju strain) infection in domestic animals. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, 83: (4), 395-403. FAO (1991). Report of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Expert Consultation on helminthic infections of livestock in developing countries (AGA 815) FAO. Rome pp.16-17. Gracey, J. F.; Collins, D. S. and Huey, R. J. (1999): Meat Hygiene. 10 th Ed. Harcourt Brace and Company Limited, 24-28 Oval Road, London NW17DX. Pp.673-678. Huggies, G. (1993). Seroepidermiological study of Taenia saginata cysticercosis in Swaziland. Res. Vet. Sc., 55(3): 287 291). NJAFE VOL. 7 No. 2, 2011 50
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