Comparative studies on hydatidosis in farm animals in Egypt.

A survey on the frequency of hydatid disease in animals slaughtered in Cairo abattoir revealed that the percentage in camels, sheep, pigs, cows and buffaloes attained 31.0%, 1.33%, 4.62%, 0.0% and 0.0% respectively. In camels and pigs the lungs were the main predilection sites of hydatid cysts, while in sheep the liver was the most infested organ. The wall thickness of the cysts was different according to the host species and the location of the cyst. The parasitic membrane of the cysts collected from camels consisted of two layers, an outer layer rich with mucopolysaccharides, and an inner germinal layer; some of its cells were rich with glycogen others were charged with lipids; the latter were mainly concentrated at the origin of the brood capsule. Hydatid cysts from camels showed a large number of calcareous bodies which stained deeply with both von Kossa stain and alcian blue stain. The majority of the examined cysts from sheep showed non-fertile germinal membranes. The most characteristic feature observed in the cysts collected from pigs was the presence of large amounts of fat droplets.