The population of goats and sheep in Africa is 373 million and 165 million, respectively, representing approximately 40% and 32% of the world’s total. Within Africa, the distribution of small ruminants varies widely, with a higher concentration found in dry areas than in humid areas. Despite their higher contribution to the total world livestock population, sheep and goats produce only about 16% of the world’s meat [1] . Small ruminants are important domestic animals in the tropical animal production systems in East Africa [2] . Uganda is endowed with 16 million goats and 4.5 million sheep [1] . About 80% of rural communities in Uganda have good potential for harvesting and utilising available resources for rearing the local breeds of small ruminants for meat towards poverty alleviation in the form of providing cash income and food security to farmers [3] .

However, many constraints to small ruminant production remain, owing to limited access to animal health products and services. Other production challenges for small ruminants include a lack of high-quality grazing due to bush encroachment and urbanization, increasing drought episodes, ineffective disease control, and limited market access [2] . Parasites and diseases generate significant financial waste as a result of direct and indirect economic losses, and it is a major public health concern [4] . Among the parasitic burden in small ruminants is Cysticercus tenuicollis, this is a metacestode stage of the adult internal parasite of dogs called Taenia hydatigena. Ruminants are the intermediate hosts of Cysticercus tenuicollis while canines are the definitive hosts [4] . This metacestode resides inside ruminant animals as an intermediate host. During carcass inspection, they are typically observed as loosely filled cysts with transparent fluid found in the abdominal viscera attached to the cavities of the abdominal viscera and livers of infected animals. Cysticercus tenuicollis has an important economic loss due to the condemnation of visceral organs in slaughterhouses [5] . The transmission of Cysticercus tenuicollis occurs most commonly in environments characterized by poor sanitation, poor livestock husbandry practices, and a high abundance of stray dogs. Traditional husbandry practices, inadequate meat inspection and management, and poor control policies favour transmission of the parasite [6] . Significant losses occur arising from organ condemnation due to hydatid and C. tenuicollis cysts in small ruminants in developing countries, where there are low standards of sanitation, unregulated home slaughter, and close contact between people and animals, especially in pastoral communities [7] .

Although surveys on the prevalence of livestock parasite infestations have been reported in different parts of Uganda, there are no published studies on Cysticercus tenuicollis. Studies conducted in abattoir surveys to determine the prevalence of parasitic infestations in ruminants have focused on cases such as porcine cysticercosis, hydatidosis, fasciolosis, and their economic burden [8] . This has made Cysticercus tenuicollis a neglected infestation, with its effects unquantified in Uganda. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of Cysticercosis tenuicollis in sheep and goats in northern Uganda as well as to explore the influence of district of origin, sex, age, and visceral organ infestation.

The overall prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis in small ruminants was 60%. A similar prevalence (60.3%) was reported in Ethiopia [13] . Higher prevalence 71.8% was reported in Maiduguri, North Eastern Nigeria [14] . However, a lower prevalence of 36.3% was recorded in Southern Iran [15] , and 15.4% in Kerman in Iran [16] . The relatively higher prevalence of C. tenuicollis recorded in the study could be associated with the degree of pasture contamination and the way of raising and open feeding methods of small ruminants, including communal grazing, tethering which favour the interaction and transmission cycle between ruminants and dogs [13] [17] .

Species wise, the study revealed a prevalence of C. tenuicollis to be 68.6% in sheep and 51.4% among goats. Higher prevalence of 71.9% in goats was reported in Maiduguri Eastern Nigeria [14] , 55.1% in Southern Iran [15] and 63.9% in Ethiopia [13] Lower prevalence (18.04%) were reported in goats in Kerman abattoir in Iran [16] ; and 46.6% in Debrezeit [18] . The prevalence of C. tenuicollis recorded in the current study could be attributed to variations in the degree of pasture contamination and extensive grazing favour the transmission cycle between ruminants and dogs. [13] and [17] attributed the high prevalence in goats (63.9%) to the extensive rearing system which allowed the animals to pick eggs on pastures. The prevalence of C. tenuicollis in the current study (68.6%) in sheep is close to the prevalence (65.6%) reported in Turkey [19] [20] and 63.9% in Ethiopia [13] . Higher prevalence of 71.6% was reported in Eastern Nigeria [14] . Lower prevalence of 12.8% and 12.13% were found in sheep from Iran [16] and Turkey’s Malatya province [20] . The lower infestation rate of the goats as opposed to sheep in this study could be attributed to their grazing characteristics. Goats browse by the eating leaves of short trees and shrubs, which are rarely soiled by dog faeces, reducing the chances of infestation [16] .

The current study found that younger small ruminants 1 - 2 years were slightly more infested (68.8%) than the adults of 3 years (63.5%) and 4 years (54.1%). Other studies have found a prevalence of 42.5% in small ruminants over 3 years old, 33.5% in kids and lambs in Ethiopia [21] ; 49.6% in adult goats and sheep, 38.6% in young goats and sheep [18] and [20] in Turkey reported adult animals to be more infested than younger ones. The high prevalence of young small ruminants observed in the current study could be attributed to the method of grazing (tethering) where the adult animals and the kids are left to graze in the same place. Also, the young small ruminants have more close contact with the shepherded dogs leading to the ingestion of the eggs of T. hydatigena. However, the lower infestation in adult small ruminants is attributed to the increased immunity resulting from the consumption of a small number of eggs.

The current study revealed female small ruminants (61.80%) were more infested than males (58.80%). Cysticercus tenuicollis infestation and sex of small ruminants are in agreement with the previous findings [20] and [14] . The slightly higher prevalence in the current study in female small ruminants could be attributed to the greater demand for feeds needed to meet the nutrient requirement during gestation hence pre-disposing them to the infestation.

The prevalence of C. tenuicollis with respect to the district of origin of small ruminants revealed an infestation rate of (82.6%) with Otuke, (72.4%) Kole, (66.7%) Alebtong, (59.4%), Apac (59.4%) and (31.4%) Lira. This trend in infestation could be attributed to management practices like communal feeding (grazing) and management systems which increase the interaction and exposure of the small ruminants to freely roaming stray dogs on grazing land and the deep-ingrained habit of feeding dogs with trimmed and condemned slaughter materials could have been an important risk factors. [13] advanced similar arguments when their study revealed a higher prevalence of C. tenuicollis in highland goats and sheep (68.1%) than those in lowland (56.6%). Their study attributed the findings to grazing or feeding and management practices in highland areas and the close association between goats and dogs in this area. The lower prevalence in both sheep and goats from the lowland was attributed to environmental conditions such as high temperature and low humidity, both of which are detrimental to the survival of T. hydatigena eggs.

The internal organs revealed a higher prevalence of C tenuicollis attached to the intestines (57.80%) the liver (20.70%), lungs (17.85%), fetal sac (14.30%), and kidneys (3.55%). The obtained sequences of the cysts in this study are consistent with findings of [16] and [22] . There was a greater presence of the parasite in the mesentery, which is probably better explained by its lifecycle. [16] reported that metacestodes migrate through the hepatic parenchyma to the peritoneal cavity maturing to become attached among other surfaces. [20] cites the fact that the mesentery covers a larger surface area in the peritoneal cavity as a possible reason for the greater presence of the parasite in this region.

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis in goats and sheep slaughtered in Lira Municipal abattoir. The study revealed a prevalence of 60% in small ruminants slaughtered in Lira Municipal Abattoir. Sheep exhibited a significantly higher infestation (68.6%) than goats (51.4%). Prevalence was not significantly affected by the age and sex of the small ruminants. The district of origin however had a significant influence on infestation. The predominant site of infestation with Cysticercus cysts was the intestines with a prevalence of (57.80%), Liver (20.70%), the fetal sac in female animals (14.30%), Lungs (17.85%), and Kidney (3.55%). Among all the small ruminants infested with the parasite, at least each possessed a cysticercus cyst on the intestines. The research also observed that condemned abattoir materials were being uncontrollably sold to dog owners. It’s being concluded that this practice in the face of a significantly high prevalence of Cysticercus tenuicollis has exacerbated infestation and contributed to the maintenance of the parasite’s life cycle between the intermediate host (small ruminants) and the final host (dogs).

I am grateful for the technical support from Dr Okwany Patrick (RIP) and Dr Kamugisha Godfrey (RIP).