Veterinary Science & Technology

Prevalence, Larvae Burden and Gross Pathological Lesion of Cephalopina titillator in Camels Slaughtered at Addis Ababa Abattoir Akaki Branch, Ethiopia

Abstract

Leta Muleta Kissi and Awol Mohammed Assen

Cephalopina titillator (C. titillator) is an obligate parasite of the camel and causes nasal myiasis in camels throughout the world. The adult fly deposits larvae in the nasal cavity and these remain parasitizing the animal for a considerable period of time. A cross sectional study was conducted on randomly selected camels, Camelus dromedarius (C. dromedarius) slaughtered at Addis Ababa abattoir, Akaki branch, Ethiopia during the period from November 2016 to April 2017 to determine the prevalence of larvae infestation with associated risk factors and gross pathological lesions and larvae burden. Out of total 334 camel heads examined, 276 were infested by C. titillator larvae which give an overall prevalence 82.6%. Analysis of potential risk factors has revealed that the rate of infestation was significantly higher in older camels (88.2%) as compared with younger camel (76.8%) (P<0.05). The rate of infestation was also significantly higher in female camel (88%) than that of male camel (77.8%). On the other hand the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05) between parasitic infestation with origin and body condition score of camels. But relatively higher prevalence (84.3%) was recorded in camels originated from Borena as compared to those originated from Kereyu (80.4%). Moreover prevalence was relatively higher in camels with poor body condition (91.3%) as compared to that of camels with medium (81.8%) and good body condition score (80.3%). On average 126 C. titillator larvae were counted per animal, and abundant mucous secretion, congested mucus membrane, diffused petechial hemorrhage and development of multiple granuloma were among the major gross pathological lesions observed in nasal cavity, nasopharynx and turbinates. In conclusion the present finding has demonstrated that C. titillator was one of the highly prevalent myiasis in camel rearing area. Therefore further epidemiological investigation on the diagnosis, control and prevention method and its economic impacts are required.