Thesis:

Investigation of parasitic infection in slaughtered livestock in Khoshab County from 2019 to 2024

Human-animal communicable diseases account for a significant share of the global infectious disease burden, and their direct and indirect consequences affect public health, food security, and the economy. This study aimed to investigate parasitic infestation in slaughtered livestock in Khoshab city from 2019 to 2024. A total of 3,371 light and heavy livestock were slaughtered in the Khoshab city slaughterhouse over a 6-year period, of which 3,307 were sheep, 55 were goats, and 9 were cattle. The highest number of slaughtered livestock was 697 sheep in 2019. According to the results, about 5.32% of slaughtered sheep had parasitic infestation with hepatic hydatid cysts and 9.22% of slaughtered sheep had pulmonary hydatid cysts. In the case of slaughtered goats, the rate of infection with hepatic hydatid cyst was not reported, but the rate of infection with pulmonary hydatid was 5.45%. In the case of slaughtered cattle, the rate of infection with hepatic hydatid was not reported, but the rate of infection with pulmonary hydatid was 11.11%. The prevalence of sarcocyst in sheep was 0.15% and that of dicrocelium was 0.84%. No cases of sarcocyst and dicrocelium infection were reported in slaughtered goats and cattle. The results also showed that there was a significant difference between the rate of infection in slaughtered livestock according to the type of infection in sheep, goats, and cattle, so that the frequency of infection in sheep was higher than in goats and cattle. Also, the rate of pulmonary infection among slaughtered livestock was statistically significantly higher than hepatic hydatid in both slaughtered sheep and goats. .

Keywords: Keywords: Light livestock, parasitic infection, liver parasites