Prevalence of Fasciola spp. Among Slaughtered Livestock in Zakho City, Duhok Governorate - Iraq

Fascioliasis is one of the most common neglected zoonotic disease caused by Fasciola species. The current study was conducted during January to December 2019,in which five districts were selected in various parts of Duhok governorates which differ in their environmental and geographical conditions they included: Duhok city, Zakho, Shelidiza, Aqrah and Bardarash. Each slaughter house was visited once monthly to determine the rate of fascioliasis among domestic animals; cattle, sheep and goats. The infected livers were examined grossly and the bile duct and gall bladder were inspected for the presence of Fasciola species, the work was performed in Parasitology Laboratory, Biology Dept., Faculty of Science, Zakho University. Fascioliasis was diagnosed in 2.0% (195/9757) of total slaughtered livestock, with the highest rate of infection in cattle which was 3.27% (66/2021), followed by sheep 1.76% (122/6932) and the lowest in goats 0.87% (7/804). Slightly higher prevalence rate from positive cases was found in local livestock compared to imported one (2.10% versus 1.88%). According to gender, males showed higher prevalence than females (2.08% versus 1.08%). Regarding Fasciola species, among sheep and goats; the prevalence of F. hepatica was higher than Fasciola gigantica. While among cattle, F. gigantica was the most common species. With respect to parasite burden, the heaviest burden was recorded in 38.46% (20-100 flukes/liver) of slaughtered livestock with the heaviest being in sheep (55.74%), followed by goats (71.43%) while lightest burden was recorded in cattle in 62.12% (1-10 flukes/liver). Most of the liver flukes were recovered from the bile ducts (67.69 %), followed by gall bladder (21.54%) and the least (10.77%) from both the bile ducts and gall bladder.