Prevalence and evaluation of liver loss due to fasciolosis in sheep and goats slaughtered on the Gao slaughtering area in Mali

This study aims to update data on fasciolosis in sheep and goats by determining its prevalence and assessing liver losses caused by this disease in the Gao slaughter area in Mali. The samples were taken from 644 fecal samples and 8826 liver samples. Two techniques for direct diagnosis of the parasite were used: the sedimentation technique, which involves successive washes to search for parasite eggs and sanitary inspection of the livers of slaughtered animals to search for the parasite. The estimation of financial losses due to fasciolosis was made by counting all livers seized for fasciolosis during the three months of study. The total obtained per animal species was multiplied by the sale price of the organ on the Gao markets (3500 FCFA). Coprological prevalence and liver infestation rates revealed that sheep were more parasitized (10% for feces and 11.4% for livers) than goats were (6.5% for feces and 6.2% for livers), p = 0.15. Among the n= 2966 livers inspected in sheep, 340 were seized in sheep, representing an infestation rate of 11.4%. Among the 5860 goats whose livers were inspected, 366 were seized, representing an infestation rate of 6.2%. The market value of the seizures of sheep and goats amounts to 2,471,000 FCFA (two million four hundred and seventy-one thousand CFA francs) ; this amount represents the value of the losses suffered by the slaughter butchers over a period of 03 months in the Gao slaughter area.