Abstract

Cysticercosis represents an important public health problem that can cause significant economic losses to the beef industry. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence rate of cysticercosis in cattle and estimate the economic losses to producers associated with this parasitic disease. Data were collected from the official sanitary inspection service of a slaughterhouse located in the city of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil, from 2009 to 2016. A total of 358,383 cattle from 46 cities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, were slaughtered, of which 4,243 were infected with cysticercosis (1.18%). A total of 5,194 cysticerci were detected in these carcasses, of which 4,548 (87.56%) were alive and 646 (12.44%) were calcified. Most of the cysticerci were located in the masseter and pterygoid masticatory muscles (72.41%). As to the classification of cysticercosis according to the degree of infection of organs and/or parts affected, mild infection was the most frequently observed (92.36%). Rural producers had a total of R$ 1,755,204.20 (US$ 537,526.80) of economic losses due to bovine cysticercosis during the time span of eight years covered by this retrospective study. The importance of the sanitary inspection of meat in the control of this major zoonotic diseases is emphasized.