Cystic hydatidosis in slaughtered goats from various municipal abattoirs in Oman

A passive surveillance study was conducted from April 2012 to April 2013 to determine the incidence, the affect of age, sex and cyst location, fertility, and viability on the occurrence of cystic hydatidosis in slaughtered goats from six municipal abattoirs around Oman. Morphologic characterization of suspected visceral organs has shown that Echinococcos granulosus (E. granulosus) metacestodes were present in 9.2 % of the total samples (682). Incidence (per 10,000) varied from 1.4 to 1.5. There was a significant difference between abattoirs, with Salalah having the highest infection (63.2 %), followed by Nizwa (27.2 %), Al Buraimi (10.8 %), Bousher (7.2 %), and the lowest in Sohar (1.6 %). Infection was significantly higher in indigenous goats (22.1 %) compared with imported breeds (2.5 %) from Somalia. The visceral organs were found harboring one or more hydatid cysts. Greatest cyst infection was recorded in lungs (53.4 %), followed by heart (50 %), liver (6.2 %), and multiple organs (14 %). A significant difference was observed between females (25 %) and male goats (6 %). Furthermore, the fertility of the hydatid cysts was found higher in heart and lungs (100 %, 51.6 %) and the viability rate of protoscolices was high (64 %). The findings of this study demonstrated that cystic hydatidosis is common and widely distributed in local goats, and they might play an important role in the life cycle and transmission of this zoonosis in Oman.