Distribution and identification of risk areas for bovine cysticercosis in the State of Parana, Brazil

Bovine cysticercosis is a problem of public and animal health highly spread in Brazil, which has negative repercussions in meat production in several states. This is one of the most common diseases occurring in the slaughterhouses under sanitary inspection, becoming a concern for cold stores and producers, because of the losses that it entails. Little is known about the distribution and evolution of the number of cases of bovine cysticercosis in the state of Parana. Given the above, this work aimed to perform a retrospective survey on the occurrence of bovine cysticercosis, diagnosed by post-mortem examination by the Federal Inspection Service of the State of Parana from 2004 to 2008; determine the distribution of cases in the state; identify the areas that most likely present cases of the disease, and analyze the economic loss of the state due to the condemnations for this parasitosis. It has been found a 2.23% prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in the state of Parana. During the period analyzed, there was a statistically significant reduction (p<0.05) of the prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in the state. In the years 2004-2008, 29,708,550 kg of beef were condemned for cysticercosis, leading to economic losses. The state of Parana is getting, through the deployment of the control program for the taeniasis-cysticercosis complex, a positive development since it got, during the analysis period, to reduce the prevalence of this parasite in cattle and, thus, reduce the economic losses.