The helminth infection rate of livestocks in Thua Thien Hue province and the effectiveness of autoclave in decontaminating parasitic infection agents

Livestock and pets are important to human life but have many potential health hazards such as parasitic zoonoses. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of helminth infection in some kind of livestocks and pets in Thua Thien Hue province and evaluate the value of autoclaving to decontamination to avoid the helminthic infections. Materials and methods: cross-sectional and experimental descriptive study using Formalin - Ether technique to investigate the prevalence of helminth eggs of dog, and cattle feces collected in Thua Thien Hue province. Comparing the shape of helminth eggs in 10% formalin and the other preserved in 10% formalin, then autoclaved, to evaluate the effectiveness of autoclave decontamination in both preventing helminth infection and identifying helminths. Results: The overall prevalence of helminth infections in some domestic animals (cattle, dogs and pig) in Thua Thien Hue province was 42%. Parasitic helminth egg specimens can be stored for a long time by autoclaving to avoid infection. Conclusions: The rate of helminth infections in some domestic animals in Thua Thien Hue province is still relatively high. The method of autoclaving and decontamination has the potential to prevent helminth infection in the laboratory and safty for storage slide. Key words: helminths, livestock, decontamination.