Prevalence and molecular characterization of Cystic Echinococcosis from infected livestock animals in Hazara Division, Pakistan

Safia Arbab ¹ Hanif Ullah ^2* Inam Ul Hassan ³ Suleman Suleman ⁴ Weiwei Wang ¹ Abdul Qadeer ⁵ Jiyu Zhang ¹

• ¹ Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
• ² West China School of Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
• ³ Hazara University, Dhodial, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
• ⁴ University of Swabi, Swabi, Pakistan
• ⁵ Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China

Echinococcosis is a parasitic zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus tapeworm larvae, forming cysts in organs like the liver and lungs. It primarily affects livestock and humans, with significant public health and economic implications worldwide. In the Hazara division, the prevalence and genetic diversity of the Echinococcus is largely unexplored. Therefore, the current study aims to assess the prevalence of Echinococcus granulosis (EG) in livestock. From April 2023 to April 2024, a total of 480 livestock animals, including buffaloes, cattle, goats, and sheep, were examined for echinococcosis across various slaughterhouses in the Hazara division.Cysts of Echinococcus were collected from different organs, and the cyst fluid (CF) was microscopically analyzed before DNA extraction. PCR amplification was performed targeting the Cox1 (317bp) and Cyto B (309bp) genes to confirm the presence of E. granulosus. The overall prevalence of Cystic echinococcosis (CE) was 12.2% (59/480), with rates observed in different species as follows: cattle (13.1%), buffaloes (15.2%), goats (5.7%), and sheep (30%) and (p-0.658). District-wise, higher prevalence rates were recorded in Mansehra and Haripur districts (16.2%, 17.5%), followed by Abbottabad and Battagram (11.2%, 2.5%). The lowest prevalence of infection was observed in the upper and lower Kohistan districts, with rates ranging from 7.5% to 8.7%, respectively. The infection was more common in male animals than in females, particularly among those older than 4-5 years (p =0.048). Prevalence varied by species, with cattle showing rates between 12.7% and 16.6%, buffaloes between 15.2% and 15.7%, followed by sheep (10%, 16.6%) and goats (16.6%). Most animals in the study were older than three years, with the highest number of cysts found in animals over five years of age.Hydatid cysts were most found in the liver (34.7%) and lungs (39.1%), followed by the kidneys (17.3%) and heart (8.6%), (p-0.01). In conclusion, E.G. is highly prevalent in the livestock population of the Hazara division.