Occurrence of hydatidosis and cysticercosis in cattle in southern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, from 2013 to 2016

Hydatidosis and cysticercosis are parasitoses caused by the larval forms of the cestodes Equinococcus spp. and Taenia spp., which belong to the Taeniidae family. Their definitive hosts are canids and humans, respectively, with ruminants as the intermediate hosts and humans as an accidental host of both diseases. These parasites are responsible for large economic losses in slaughterhouses due to condemnation of carcasses and by-products. The present study reports the mean incidence rates of hydatidosis and cysticercosis in cattle slaughtered in the southern region of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. The incidence rates observed between 2013 and 2016 were 19.96% and 0.9%, respectively, with decreased tendency of occurrence of both diseases in those years. Despite the downward tendency of the diseases, hydatidosis presented high incidence. Hydatidosis performance over the years was characterized by significant increase in the number of cases, followed by marked decrease. Cysticercosis presented a decrease in number of cases at the beginning and the end of each year. These diseases have a significant socioeconomic impact as they are responsible for large losses in the livestock industry, due to reduced productivity and carcass condemnation, and represent a risk to public health.