Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered in North Egypt: Overestimation by the visual inspection method

The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization list , a foodborne cestode, as the most widely distributed human tapeworm worldwide. The larval stage of , , causes cysticercosis in bovines and infects humans who eat raw or undercooked beef. The existing detection methods of in cattle depend on the visual inspection of meat. This study aimed to confirm the identification of through visual inspection at the slaughterhouses in North Egypt with a molecular diagnosis. A total of 687 locally bred cattle (Baladi), including 428 cows and 259 buffaloes, slaughtered in four slaughterhouses in North Egypt from April 2018 to February 2019 were inspected for using the traditional meat inspection method. Positive samples were verified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and gene sequencing. Through visual inspection, was detected in 4.2% and 12.4% of the slaughtered cows and buffaloes, respectively. Molecular analysis confirmed that 1.9% of the animals, all of which were cows, had infection. DNA sequencing verified the identity of the PCR-amplified product. The rate of infection in slaughterhouses detected through meat inspection is overestimated compared with that through PCR. Although meat inspection can be used as a primary screening tool for , a more specific molecular method is required to achieve an accurate diagnosis.