The epidemiological, clinical, and biochemical profile of non-cerebral coenurosis in goats and the morphological
characteristics of the responsible metacestodes (cysts) were examined in a cross-sectional
survey of slaughtered goats in abattoirs of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) originating from Abu Dhabi
and various tropical countries. The age, country of origin, and location of each cyst in the body of goats
were recorded. Blood samples collected from infected and matching healthy goats were subjected to
biochemical analysis. Data on the morphological characteristics of the cysts as well as the clusters, scoleces,
and rostellar hooks in one cyst from each affected carcass were collected. The data collected were
subjected to statistical analysis. A total of 2,284 slaughtered goats were examined and 40 goats were
diagnosed as infected with non-cerebral coenurus cysts. The prevalence of non-cerebral coenurosis was
1.75% and the degree of parasite aggregation (k) was 0.003, which is indicative of overdispersion (k < 1).
The only abnormalities observed in the infected goats were palpation of large single cysts in thigh muscles
and higher serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) value. A total of 76 non-cerebral coenurus cysts
from 14 different body locations were collected. No cysts were found in the brain or spinal cord. Cysts
located in psoas muscles had on average significantly bigger volumes and higher numbers of scoleces
and clusters compared to cysts located in other body parts (P-value = 0.000). Significant differences in the
morphometric measurements of the rostellar hooks were observed between cysts found in goats from
different countries of origin (P-value < 0.05) perhaps due to initial steps of allopatric speciation by geographic
isolation. A significant positive correlation was found between number of scoleces and volume of
cysts (b = 6.37 > 5; R-Sq = 89.4%; P-value = 0.000) and between number of clusters and number of scoleces
(b = 25.13 > 1; R-Sq = 79.8%; P-value = 0.000) indicative of following a positive allometric growth as well as
between number of clusters and volume of cysts (b = 0.25 < 0.5; R-Sq = 69.4%; P-value = 0.000) indicative
of following a negative allometric growth. The biological significance of the observed allometries is not
known, but perhaps for evolutionary reasons the parasite is investing its resources more on the growth
of scoleces, less on the growth of cyst volume, and even less on the number of clusters. |
