An Abattoir Survey on the Prevalence and Monetary Loss of Fasciolosis in Cattle in Jimma Town, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was carried out between January, 2011 and June, 2011 with the aims of determining the abattoir prevalence and monetary loss associated with fasciolosis in cattle at Jimma municipal abattoir, Jimma, Ethiopia. From the total 382 examined cattle, 54.5% (208/382) were found to be positive for fasciolosis by postmortem liver inspection. From 208 infected livers with Fasciola species, Fasciola hepatica was found to be the most prevalent species (65.4%) in the study. Fasciola gigantica, mixed infection and immature Fasciola species were proved to be 36.0%, 11.5% and 10.1%, respectively. Highest prevalence of fasciolosis was observed in poor body condition cattle (85.9%) followed by medium (55.1%) and good body condition cattle (34.5%), respectively. Statistical analysis of the data showed the presence of statistical significant difference (P < 0.05) on the prevalence of fasciolosis among the different body conditions. Analysis of the abattoir data indicated a total annual liver condemnation which resulted in 87,577 Ethiopian birr (5152 USD) loss. Similarly, the average carcass weight loss was confirmed to be 2,482,819 Ethiopian birr (146,048 USD) due to fasciolosis in cattle. The overall total annual monetary loss due to fasciolosis in cattle at Jimma municipal abattoir was proved to be 2,570,396 Ethiopian birr (151,200 USD). The results of the present survey showed that the prevalence and monetary loss of fasciolosis in cattle slaughtered at Jimma municipal abattoir was very high and warrants immediate need for prevention and control of the parasite in the study area in particular and in the country at large. and the presence of a number of problems due to Fasciola hepatica was shown to be the most fasciolosis there is paucity of well-documented important fluke's species in Ethiopian livestock with information on the occurrence of fasciolosis in cattle in distribution over three quarters of the nation except in the Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was designed with the arid, north east and east of the country. The distribution aims of determining the prevalence of fasciolosis in cattle of the country that encompasses approximately one