The prevalence of fascioliasis in cattle slaughtered in the Sokoto metropolitan abattoir was investigated. Faeces and bile samples were collected and processed using formal ether concentration technique. Gross lesions from 224 out of 1,313 slaughtered cattle were randomly selected and examined. Out of the 224 cattle examined, 95 (42.41%) were males and 129 (57.59%) were females. Out of 95 male cattle examined, 27 (28.42%) were infected and out of 129 females 35 (27.13%) were infected. Based on breed, infection rates were 31 (31.0%), and 31 (25.2%) for breeds of Sokoto Gudali and Red Bororo respectively. No infection was recorded in White Fulani breed. Lesions observed were more in males than in females and more in Red Bororo than in Sokoto Gudali. Overall, prevalence of infection with Fasciola was 27.68%. There was no statistically significant association between infection and breed and between infection and sex of the animals sampled . Regular treatment of all animals with an effective flukicide, as well as snail habitat control, tracing source of animals, public enlightenment about the disease, proper abattoir inspection, adequate and clean water supply to animals, and payment of compensation of condemned tissues and organs infested with the parasite by government were suggested. 1. Introduction Fascioliasis, a serious infectious parasitic disease infecting domestic ruminants and humans, tops all the zoonotic helminthes worldwide [1]. A large variety of animals, such as sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, horses, donkeys, camels and, rabbits, show infection rates that may reach 90% in some areas [2]. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2007 [3], the infection was limited in the past to specific and typical geographical areas (endemiotopes) but is now widespread throughout the world, with human cases being increasingly reported from Europe, the Americas, and Oceania (where only F. hepatica is transmitted) and from Africa and Asia (where the two species overlap). Fascioliasis is endemic in 61 countries and has become a food-borne infection of public health importance in parts of the world such as the Andean Highlands of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru; the Nile Delta of Egypt; and Northern Iran. It is estimated that more than 180 million people are at risk of infection, and infection rates are high enough to make fascioliasis a serious public health concern [4]. Bovine fasciolosis is a parasitic disease of cattle caused by trematodes usually Fasciola gigantica and rarely Fasciola hepatica in the tropics. The life cycle of these trematodes
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