Tracing Echinococcosis in Portugal - The Role of the Abattoirs in North Douro Region

Abstract

The occurrence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) at a national level or in large regional areas is an issue difficult to determine in a costeffective way, integrating both human and animal data, and thus leading to effective control measures. In Portugal, the abattoirs in north Douro region receive a large percentage of heads of cattle from the whole country which makes them ideal places for the implementation of a surveillance system for this zoonosis. Data was obtained for cattle slaughtered in 9 abattoirs in north region of Douro River, with visible CE-like cysts at meat inspection. An excel database was constructed with the records of condemned viscera due to hydatid cysts in cattle for 2008, 2009, 2010, and the first half of 2011. Most of the cysts were found in the lungs and livers (23.5%), only in livers (21.5%) or only in lungs (18.1%). Individual information concerning each animal contributed to the depiction of a distribution map by regions of the occurrence of positive cases in Portugal. From the 149 cases registered, it was possible to identify the place of infection in 93 cases (62.4%), in which the rate of distribution was 21 (22.6%) in the north, 14 (15.1%) in the center, 57 (61.3%) in Alentejo and 1 case (1.1%) in Algarve. This distribution of cases coincides with the location of human and animal cases reported before, with special focus on the Alentejo and in the northeast of the country.