Prevalence and Economic Significance of Fasciolosis in Cattle Slaughtered at Dire Dawa Municipal Abattoir, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted from October 2010 Up to March 2011 to determine the prevalence of fasciolosis and associated economic loss in cattle slaughtered at Dire Dawa Municipal Abattoir, Ethiopia. Postmortem examination, a questionnaire survey and an abattoir retrospective data were retrieved and analyzed. The results showed that 13,975 cattle were slaughtered per year per average and the rate of liver condemnation was 8.99 % per year. Based on post mortem findings, the study revealed a total prevalence of 24.44% where the highest percentage (16.89%) was due to Fasciola hepatica. Simlilarly, Fasciola gigantica (5.56%), immature fluke (1.11%) and mixed infections (0.89%) were also noted in the study areas. Comparisons were also made among examined animals based on their age, sex, origin, and Body Condition Score. The result showed that there was statistically significant difference in prevalence among animals of different origin (p=0.000). However, the difference in prevalence between animals of different age, sex, and body conditions was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Gross pathological lesions found were abscess, hemorrhage, hepatic fibrosis and calcification of bile ducts. Depending on current local price of liver and meat, the average annual economic loss due to fasciolosis was estimated to be 124,151.2 USD. In conclusion, the results of the current study suggested that bovine fasciolosis was found to be one of the major disease entities in Dire Dawa administrative town.