Hydatid disease in goats in Bangladesh

A total of 12 344 goats of different ages from various localities of Bangladesh were examined for the presence of hydatid disease and 1024 (8.29%) were found to be infected. The incidence of infection by organ was: liver 36.72%, lungs 32.03%, spleen 4.69%, heart 3.13%, kidney 1.56%, omentum 0.78%, and both liver and lungs 21.09%. The severity of infection was: weak (84.56% and 86.55%), medium (13.32% and 11.87%) and heavy (2.12 and 1.58%) in the liver and lungs respectively. Of the 1792 cysts examined, 175 (9.76%) were fertile, 1342 (74.89%) were sterile, 206 (11.50%) were calcified, 47 (2.62%) were supporative and 22 (1.23%) were undeveloped. The incidence of infection by age of host was: 0.63% between 0 and 1 year, 2.48% between 1 and 2 years, 5.53% between 2 and 3 years, 16.80% between 3 and 5 years and 21.64% for 5 years old and above.