Hydatidosis in goats in Jammu, India.

The prevalence of hydatidosis was carried out in slaughtered goats (n = 177) by liver and lung examination at Jammu. The prevalence rate of hydatidosis was 19.8 %. A total of 14.1 % goats had cysts in both the livers and lungs while 2.3 and 3.4 % goats had cysts in the livers or lungs, respectively. A total of 9.1 % goats had fertile cysts. The adult goats (>4 years) had a significantly higher (p = 0.01) prevalence rate as compared to the young goats (<2 years). Sex had no significant effect on the prevalence of hydatidosis in goats. The histopathological section of the affected lungs revealed a thick coat of granulation tissue causing fibrosis. The cysts caused progressive focal pressure atrophic lesions at the sites of predilection, resulting in atelectasis, desquamation of bronchial epithelium and interalveolar haemorrhages. It may be concluded that the slaughter of food animals at an early age would help to reduce the infection prevalence in dogs and subsequently in the food animals.