title: Prevalence of hydatid cysts in livestock animals in Xinjiang, China.
abstract: Hydatid worms, hosted by humans and animals, impose serious human health risk and cause significant livestock production loss. To better understand the disease infection status in Xinjiang, China, we investigated the disease epidemics in 4 livestock animals, i.e., cattle, sheep (both sheep and goat), camels, and horses, slaughtered at the abattoirs in Urumqi, Yining, Tacheng, and Altay areas. The results showed that the animals were infected at different rates, in the order of sheep (9.8%), cattle (8.4%), camels (6.8%), and horses (4.3%). The infection rates were found to be different between the abattoirs in various regions even for the same animals. For sheep, the rates increased significantly as the animals grew older. It was 1.9% before 1 year of age and increased to 8.2% in the age of 1-2 years, and further increased to 12.3% when the animals were 3-4 years old, and reached 17.2% when they were 5-6 year old. Sheep older than 6 years had an infection rate of 19.5%. This study demonstrates that the 4 livestock animals in the pastoral areas in Xinjiang were infected by the parasites to various extend. This study is the first systematic investigation of the hydatid worms in various livestock animals in Xinjiang, China, which provides epidemiological information about the infection of hydatid worms in livestock, and is valuable in developing strategies for prevention and control of the hydatid disease.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qingling
authors.affiliation: Institute of Veterinary Research, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Husbandry, Xinjiang 832000, China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guanglei
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jun
authors.affiliation: State Key Lab of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730046, China.
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xinquan
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tianli
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xuemei
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Station of Shawan County, Xinjiang 832100, China.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jinsheng
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Station of Shawan County, Xinjiang 832100, China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huisheng
authors.affiliation: Center for Animal Disease Prevention and Control, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Cai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuojun
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang 832003, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chuangfu
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004443:Echinococcosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D058751:Livestock; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: China; Xinjiang; hydatid cyst; livestock animal; prevalence