Prevalence of Hydatidosis among Slaughtered Animals in Jeddah , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted over one year in the major North Jeddah abattoir to assess the current status of hydatidosis among slaughtered animals. The cysts count size, site of infection and fertility were conducted on randomly infected animals. A total of (91348) slaughtered animals; camels (541), cattle (615), goats (48370) and sheep (41822) were macroscopically and microscopically examined. The infection prevalence was 6.86%, 3.63%, 69.6% & 19.85% in camels, cattle, sheep and goats respectively. The liver was the predominant site of infection in all animals. The intensity of cysts differed significantly among all host species. Most of cysts were small in size and was found more in the liver than in the lung. There was a significant difference among host species in fertile cysts (P < 0.00). The higher percentage of fertile cysts was in goat (9.87%) and sheep (4.85%). The viability rate of protoscolces was significantly different in all examined animals with a higher rate among sheep and goats. These findings reflect the existence of the life cycle maintenance and the transmission of the cestode Echinococcus granulosus from definitive host (dogs) to intermediate hosts (camels, cattle, sheep and goats) in Jeddah.