Macedonian Veterinary Review

Short Communication

First report of bovine coenurosis in North Macedonia

Aleksandar Cvetkovikj *

Ljubica Rashikj

Boris Dimitrievski

Aleksandar Trajchovski

Ivana Shikoska

Petre Dimov

Iskra Cvetkovikj

Jovana Stefanovska

Mac Vet Rev 2024; 47 (1): 65 - 70

10.2478/macvetrev-2023-0029

Received: 03 August 2023

Received in revised form: 15 October 2023

Accepted: 04 December 2023

Available Online First: 29 December 2023

Published on: 15 March 2024

Correspondence: Aleksandar Cvetkovikj, acvetkovic@fvm.ukim.edu.mk

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Abstract

Coenurosis is a cystic parasitic disease affecting ruminants and other mammals worldwide. The disease is caused by Coenurus cerebralis, the larval stage of the tapeworm Taenia multiceps. Sheep and goats are frequently infected, while cases in cattle are rare. Here we describe the first recorded case of bovine coenurosis in North Macedonia. The diagnosis was based on the neurological clinical signs and the postmortem findings of a 1-year-old bull with symptoms typical for coenurosis, i.e. ataxia, circling movements, mild depression and impaired vision. Postmortem, a cyst was found in the left cerebral hemisphere and was confirmed as fertile Coenurus cerebralis by parasitological analysis. These findings suggest that coenurosis should be considered part of the differential diagnosis in cattle with neurological symptoms. This highlights the need for routine surveillance of this disease in livestock and proactive tracking of the parasite in the final hosts to enhance disease management.

Keywords: Coenurus cerebralis, Taenia multiceps, cyst, cattle, zoonosis

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Copyright

© 2023 Cvetkovikj A. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declared that they have no potential lict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation Information

Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 47, Issue 1, Pages 65-70, e-ISSN 1857-7415, p-ISSN 1409-7621, DOI: 10.2478/macvetrev-2023-0029