Study on the Prevalence and Economic Significance of Bovine Fasciolosis at Gondar Elfora Abattoir, Gondar, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and economic significance of bovine fasciolosis at Gondar Elfora abattoir, Gondar Ethiopia from November 2018 to April 2019. A total of 384 cattle were selected by systematic random sampling techniques for postmortem examination at Gondar Elfora abattoir. Out of these 90 (23.4%) cattle were found positive for fasciolosis. The prevalence of fasciolosis in poor body conditioned cattle were known to be 30.8% followed by medium body conditioned (22.7%) and good conditioned animal (15.2%) . Statistical analysis of the data showed the presence of significant difference (P=0.028) on the prevalence of fasciolosis on the basis of body condition score. Higher prevalence of bovine fasciolosis in the study area was observed in older than adult animals 28.7% and 19.5% respectively. There was statistically significant association among age of the animal and prevalence of bovine fasciolosis (P=0.037). The predominant Fasciola species identified was Fasciola hepatica 57 (14.8%) followed by Fasciola gigantica 21 (5.5%) and mixed species (Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica) 12 (3.1%). The total annual economic loss due to bovine fasciolosis in Gondar Elfora abattoir was calculated as 1,919,640 ETB (65,922 USD). The economic loss due to bovine fasciolosis at the study area showed that fasciolosis is an economically important disease in the Gondar Elfora abattoir. Hence, a combination of anthelminthic and vector control measures have to be used to ensure a satisfactory degree of control in the long run