Studies on Taenia saginata cysticercosis in eastern Nigeria.

A total of 942 slaughtered cattle at Nsukka, Enugu, Abakaliki, Nkalagu and Onitsha slaughter houses were examined for evidence of Cysticercus bovis infection. 430 animals (45.65 per cent) were in the 2-4 year age group. 38 animals had cysticerci in their tissues. Out of the 38 infected cattle 26 (68.42 per cent) were in the 2-4 year group. Of these 26 cattle, 20 (76.92 per cent) had viable cysts in parts of their body while 6 (23.1 per cent) had dead cysts. 2 out of the infected 20 cattle had viable cysts in the liver but only one had viable cysts in the lung. The number of cysts found per carcase was between 1 and 5.23 (60.53 per cent) of the 38 infected carcases had single infection and 15 (39.47 per cent) had multiple infection. Most commonly infected parts were the heart, tongue, masseter muscle, diaphragm with its pillar, muscle of arm, muscle of thigh, liver, oesophagus and lung in that order. The prevalent rates for Nsukka, Enugu, Abakaliki, Nkalagu, Onitsha slaughter houses were 4.35 per cent, 3.2 per cent, 4.10 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 4.07 per cent respectively. Bovine cysticercosis infection in cattle can be controlled by environmental sanitation and through meat inspection done by well trained meat inspectors.