Research Article Prevalence of Fascioliasis in Cattle Slaughtered in Sokoto Metropolitan Abattoir, Sokoto, Nigeria A. A. Magaji, 1 Kabir Ibrahim, 2 M. D. Salihu, 1 M. A. Saulawa, 3 A. A. Mohammed, 4 and A. I. Musawa 1 1 Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, PMB 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria 2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, PMB 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria 3 Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria 4 Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, PMB 2346, Sokoto, Nigeria Correspondence should be addressed to A. A. Magaji; magaji1965@yahoo.com Received 19 June 2014; Revised 2 October 2014; Accepted 17 October 2014; Published 9 November 2014 Academic Editor: Toru Mori Copyright © 2014 A. A. Magaji et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. he prevalence of fascioliasis in cattle slaughtered in the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir was investigated. Faeces and bile samples were collected and processed using formal ether concentration technique. Gross lesions from 224 out of 1,313 slaughtered cattle were randomly selected and examined. Out of the 224 cattle examined, 95 (42.41%) were males and 129 (57.59%) were females. Out of 95 male cattle examined, 27 (28.42%) were infected and out of 129 females 35 (27.13%) were infected. Based on breed, infection rates were 31 (31.0%), and 31 (25.2%) for breeds of Sokoto Gudali and Red Bororo respectively. No infection was recorded in White Fulani breed. Lesions observed were more in males than in females and more in Red Bororo than in Sokoto Gudali. Overall, prevalence of infection with Fasciola was 27.68%. here was no statistically signiicant association between infection and breed and between infection and sex of the animals sampled ( > 0.05). Regular treatment of all animals with an efective lukicide, as well as snail habitat control, tracing source of animals, public enlightenment about the disease, proper abattoir inspection, adequate and clean water supply to animals, and payment of compensation of condemned tissues and organs infested with the parasite by government were suggested. 1. Introduction Fascioliasis, a serious infectious parasitic disease infecting domestic ruminants and humans, tops all the zoonotic hel- minthes worldwide [1]. A large variety of animals, such as sheep, goats, cattle, bufalo, horses, donkeys, camels and, rabbits, show infection rates that may reach 90% in some areas [2]. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2007 [3], the infection was limited in the past to speciic and typical geographical areas (endemiotopes) but is now widespread throughout the world, with human cases being increasingly reported from Europe, the Americas, and Oceania (where only F. hepatica is transmitted) and from Africa and Asia (where the two species overlap). Fascioliasis is endemic in 61 countries and has become a food-borne infection of public health importance in parts of the world such as the Andean Highlands of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru; the Nile Delta of Egypt; and Northern Iran. It is estimated that more than 180 million people are at risk of infection, and infection rates are high enough to make fascioliasis a serious public health concern [4]. Bovine fasciolosis is a parasitic disease of cattle caused by trematodes usually Fasciola gigantica and rarely Fasciola hepatica in the tropics. he life cycle of these trematodes involves snail as an intermediate host [5]. he disease is usu- ally characterized by a chronic, sometimes acute or subacute inlammation of the liver and bile ducts, accompanied by sub- mandibular oedema, anaemia, anorexia, general intoxication, and death [6]. Meats infected by these organisms are reg- ularly condemned at inspection in abattoirs/slaughter slabs. It could be zoonotic while constituting a major economic problem by lowering the productivity of cattle, in addition Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Epidemiology Volume 2014, Article ID 247258, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/247258