Prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis in Slaughtered Goats in Thi-Qar province, Iraq

      The present study was conducted in slaughterhouse of Al-Nassiriyah city at Thi-Qar province / Iraq to investigate the prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis (Taenia hydatigena cysts) in goats during the period from July 2022 to June 2023.  A total 540 (286 male and 254 female) of goats were examined based on visual inspection method of meat. The current study showed that the prevalence of C. tenuicollis in the examined goats is 132(24.44%) and intensity of infection is 1.62. In this study, April recorded the highest infection rate (48.57%) with a significant difference (p < 0.05), followed by February (34.37%), while the lowest infection rate was in August (7.89%). Statistical analysis demonstrated there is no significant difference between the infection rate in the males (22.38%) and females (26.77%) goats, also, the intensity of the infection was relatively similar, 1.66 and 1.59 in the males and females respectively. The highest infection rate was recorded in older goats (29.24%) without significant variation (p > 0.05) when compared with young goats (17.57%). The most common site of C. tenuicollis was in omentum (84.85%) with a significant difference followed by liver (9.09%), while a low infection rate was recorded in other organs.