Fertility study of hydatid cysts isolated from slaughtered camels and its relationship to affected organs in Dhi Qar Governorate in Iraq

Abstract

Hydatid cyst disease (HCD) is an endemic zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of the parasite Echinococcus granulosus. Forty samples of hydatid cyst of camels were collected from Nasiriyah, slaughter  and butchers shops, during the period from January 2021 to April 2021. Protoscolices and the germinal layer (GL) were isolated from those samples. The results showed that the camel infection rate was 8.33% out of 120 examined animals, the infection was concentrated in the liver (50%), lungs (30%) and spleen (20%). The majority of cysts were calcified with a percentage of 54.55%, while the fertile were predominant over the sterile, which amounted to 27.27% and 18.18% respectively. It also appeared that the infection was more in females (70%) than in males (30%).