Epidemiological survey and economic significance of bovine hypodermosis on the Kars Plateau in the Northeast Anatolia Region of Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and seroprevalence of hypodermosis and to calculate the economic loss associated with hide damage in the cattle on the Kars Plateau, Turkey. A total of 6563 randomly selected cattle were examined by skin palpation from 1 April to 31 May 2014. A subset of 465 serum samples was collected from October to November in 2014 and analyzed using a commercial ELISA kit. The overall prevalence of hypodermosis was 16.9% in the cattle examined by skin palpation. In respect of each of the risk factors assessed, the highest prevalence rates were recorded in 2-year-old (26.4%), Brown Swiss crossbred (17.9%), female (18.1%), and dark-colored (49.7%) cattle. A total of 15,349 warble larvae were detected under the skin of 1114 cattle. The larval count per animal ranged from 1 to 91, with a mean count of 13.8. Seroprevalence was found to be 73.8% (343/465), with the highest rates of infestation in 2-year-old (87.7%), dark-colored (81.1%), female (80.4%), and Brown Swiss crossbred (87.7%) cattle. The highest seroprevalence rate was 96.8% and the lowest was 49.5%. The economic loss caused by the disease was calculated as 18,615 Turkish lira in the survey areas.