Incidence and Economic Impact of Fasciolosis in Ruminants from Slaughterhouses in Bejaia Province (Northern Algeria): A Retrospective Survey (2017-2023).

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Fasciolosis is considered an important parasitic disease, and also a primary source of morbidity and mortality in ruminants with significant economic losses and public health. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence and the economic losses due to fasciolosis in ruminants from different local slaughterhouses in Bejaia province during 7-years. METHODS: Data were obtained from different municipal slaughterhouses, supervised by the Provincial Veterinary Inspection of Bejaia, from January 2017 to December 2023. A veterinary inspected routine animal carcasses at each stage of the slaughtering process in the slaughtering units on a regular and systematic basis. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of fasciolosis detected by post-mortem examination in cattle, sheep, and goats slaughtered during the study period was 1.58%, 0.04% and 0.02%, respectively. The desired absolute precision (d) of cattle, sheep and goats is 0.011%, 0.63% and 0.51%, respectively. In cattle, fasciolosis was significantly high in January, February, and March; and gradually decreased from April to September, then increased in October, November and December. On the other hand, the monthly cumulative prevalence rates of sheep and goats fasciolosis cases recorded was constant throughout the year. The high recorded prevalence was in autumn and winter was 1.92% and 1.78% in cattle, respectively (p≤0.05). An overall direct economic loss of 5,904,031€ was incurred during the period in this study from a totality of 12,321.2 kg of liver condemned. The indirect economic loss is due to carcass weight reduction as a result of fasciolosis infection was 44,746,454€. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that the prevalence of cattle fasciolosis was generally high compared to sheep and goats in the abattoir of Bejaia province associated with significant financial losses for butchers in the study area. Furthermore, livestock farmers should be made aware of the importance of this parasitose in order to reduce economic losses.