The prevalence of Linguatula serrata nymphs in goats slaughtered in Kerman slaughterhouse, Kerman, Iran.

Abstract

Linguatula serrata is one of the zoonotic parasites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of nymphal stages of L. serrata in mesenteric and mediastinal lymph nodes of goats slaughtered in Kerman slaughterhouse, southeast of Iran. For this purpose, mesenteric and mediastinal lymph nodes of 407 goats of different sex and age were examined, revealing an infection prevalence of 49.1%. The prevalence of L. serrata infection among goats is higher than previously reported from Iran and indicates a strong focus of infection in goats. The infection rate increased with age (P<0.05). Further, the prevalence of L. serrata nymphs in different seasons was significantly different (P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed between the prevalence in males and females at the same age (P>0.05). The potential importance of these findings to human health is discussed.