Prevalence, Associated Risk Factors and Gross Pathological Lesions of Bovine Fasciolosis in Adaba Abattoir, West Arsi, Ethiopia

Parasitic diseases are important causes of morbidity and mortality in livestock. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2019 to July 2019 to estimate the prevalence, investigate potential risk factors and characterize hepatic lesions of bovine fasciolosis in Adaba abattoir, Ethiopia. There were 450 samples collected and processed in total. A simple random sample strategy was used to choose the study animals. An ante- mortem examination was used to investigate potential risk factors. Post mortem examination was done by careful examination through palpation and incision of each liver and bile duct. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the prevalence of bovine fasciolosis and Chi-square (X2) test was applied to compare the infection status with regard to the hypothesized risk factors and (P<0.05) was set for statistical significance. The overall prevalence of bovine fasciolosis was 35.77% (95% CI: 31.46-40.33). Fasciola hepatica was found to be the predominant Fasciola species affecting cattle slaughtered in the study area with 90 (20%), while 42 (9.3%) livers had Fasciola gigantica and 29 (6.4%) were infected by both species (Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica). Among the positive livers for the parasite, 79 (49.1%), 48 (29.8%) and 34 (21.11%) of the livers had slight, moderate and severe gross lesions, respectively. The disease was statistically significantly associated (P<0.05) with age and body condition scores, but statistically insignificantly associated (P>0.05) with sex. In conclusion, the disease is ubiquitous in slaughtered cattle and is a major cause of liver condemnation at the Adaba abattoir; further extensive investigations on the disease's epidemiology and planned strategies to reduce the disease should be undertaken.