Prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in informal slaughter areas in Benin

Abstract

Pork meat is well valued and highly consumed by Beninese in the country. It is typically produced in an unsafe farming system that involves stray animals with poor health conditions. Also, the preparation of this meat is always devoid of standard procedure with respect to the official slaughter circuit and is generally done on informal private slaughter areas. This situation is to expose consumers to high risks of meat contamination with Tænia solium larva. In order to estimate the value of this risk, a parasite screening exercise was carried out, between March 2020 and January 2021, on 790 pigs which were intended for mass catering and prepared in private slaughter areas. Ante-mortem (tongue examination) and post-mortem (health inspection) were carried out for this purpose. The result of the study revealed that the overall prevalence of porcine cysticercosis is 7.83% nationally. Significant variations (p<0.05) determined by region, farming method, breed and age of pigs have been established. The Center and the Northern parts of the country represent the zone with the greatest risk in terms of prevalence which is 10.64% and 8.05%. This study further showed the systematic nature of the danger and requires that the control of this zoonosis be established as a primary public health issue.