Human taenaisis and cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle, buffaloes and pigs in Egypt.

Human taeniasis and cysticercosis are zoonotic parasites of considerable public health problem. A total of 6434039 slaughtered animals over a period of four years (1994-1997) showed 0.72% cysticercosis (bovis and cellulosae) infections. Individual animal species infection was 0.23% in native breed cattle, 7.25% in imported cattle, 0.14 in buffaloes and 0.09% in pigs. The highly infested parts were the heart (64.2%) followed by the head (34.5%), the whole body (1.1%) and lastly, the quarter (0.2%) in both types of cattle and the heart (64.3%), the head (34.9%), the whole body (0.6%) and the quarter (0.2%) in buffaloes. In pigs, the highly infested parts were the whole body (55.4%) followed by the heart (37.8%) and lastly the head (6.8%). Some interesting cysticercosis were macroscopically and microscopically parasitologically and histopathologically studied. A general discussion on taeniasis and cysticercosis was given.