Prevalence of linguatula serrata nymph infestation in slaughtered cattle at two abattoirs in Tehran province

Linguatulosis is a zoonotic disease, in which human plays the role of both definitive and intermediate host and can be occasionally infected. In this survey 799 cattle were randomly selected during 4 seasons and prevalence rate considered to season and age was evaluated in two industrial abattoirs in Tehran province. Analysis of data was done using Chi-squared test. The results of this survey showed 258 (32.3%) cattle were infected with linguatula serrata nymph. Among three age groups, l. serrata nymph infection was 31.2 % in 0- 12 month, 29.6% in 13-18 months and 38.3% in => 19 months. L. serrata was more prevalent in slaughtered cattle during winter (45.6%) and the lowest prevalence rate was in summer (25%). Our results revealed high infection rate of lymph node in slaughtered cattle in Tehran province, therefore the importance of postmortem inspection at slaughterhouse needs to be emphasized.