A cross-sectional study was undertaken from March to August, 2021 to determine the prevalence and distribution of Cysticercus bovis in cattle slaughtered at Hawassa Municipal abattoir, Sidama, Ethiopia. During the active abattoir survey, both ante-mortem and postmortem inspection procedures were carried out. In postmortem inspection, carcass and different organs of slaughtered cattle were routinely inspected for cyst availability. Cyst viability test was also conducted for positive samples following available procedures. Of the 384 slaughtered cattle examined for the presence of C.ysticercus bovis, 32 (8.3%) of them were found positive for at least one cyst in muscles or organs inspected. Cyst viability test showed that of the 32 examined cysts, 12 (37.5%) were found to be viable whereas 20 (62.5%) of them were non-viable (degenerated). Anatomical site cyst distribution analysis showed that 5 (15.6%), 3 (9.4%) of the cysts were detected in heart and masseter, respectively, whereas both shoulder and tongue muscles each harbored 12 (37.5%) of the total cysts. However, there was no significant difference observed (P > 0.05) among the sex, origin and breed of slaughtered cattle with regard to the occurrence of Cysticercus bovis. Moreover, statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed among medium and good body conditioned cattle in which C.ysticercus bovis was more prevalent (15.3%) in cattle with medium body condition score than the good one (5.9%). Conclusively, the finding of this study indicated that as C.ysticercus bovis is prevalent in the study area, . Ttherefore, there is a need to create awareness among the general public on the effective use of toilet with an equivocal exercising of effective meat inspection procedures at abattoir to effectively curb the occurrence of the disease.

Keywords: Cattle; C. bovis; Cyst; Hawassa; Taeniasis