Prevalence and frequency of the parasitic lesions of ruminants liver and lung in Haiti.

The author reports on the prevalence of a series of lesions observed in the liver and lungs of 1518 cattle and 734 small ruminants during health inspe ctions in 16 of Haiti's leading slaughterhouses. There was a high prevalenc e of parasitic lesions, especially in the liver of cattle (79.25 %) and the lungs of sheep (100 %). The most widespread parasite infection came from F asciola hepatica in cattle (10.67 % prevalence), with average numbers of fl ukes per liver from 18.83 to 61.25, Cysticercus tenuicollis in sheep (3.16 %) and goats (2.97 %) and Dictyocaulus filaria in in sheep (14.74 %). Other lesions included hepatic abscesses, (14.74 % incidence in sheep, 4.07 % in goats and 2.70 % in cattle) and tuberculous lesions which were observed fo r the first time in goats in Haiti (incidence of 1.56 %).