Epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasites of small ruminants in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Abstract

Objective: The current study was conducted to explore the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in small ruminants (sheep and goats) in relation to species, age, sex, season, and body condition in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional coprological survey was carried out at Mymensingh Sadar in Mymensingh from July 2015 to June 2016. In total, 433 fecal samples were screened for eggs/oocysts/cysts of parasite and counted by using standard qualitative and quantitative techniques. Eggs/oocysts/cysts were identified according to their characteristic features. Results:The study found 74.8% (n=324/433) prevalence of GI parasites in small ruminants. Species-wise prevalence indicated that 77.0% (n=268/348) goats and 65.9% (n=56/85) sheep harbored parasitic infection. Nine species of GI parasites were identified in the study area namely Strongyloides sp., Haemonchus sp., Oesophagostomum sp., Trichostrongylus sp., Trichuris sp., Paraphistomum spp., Fasciola spp., Eimeria spp. and Balantidium spp. The level of egg/oocyst/cyst per gram of feces (EPG/OPG/CPG) was ranged between 100 and 1200. Young small ruminants (78.4%) showed significantly (P=0.026) higher prevalence as compared to adult (68.8%). Between sexes, significantly (P=0.000) higher prevalence was found in female (83.6%) than male (64.7%). Infection was significantly (P=0.000) highest in poor body conditioned small ruminants (82.1%) as compared to moderate (72.2%) and good body conditioned (53.8%) small ruminants. In case of season, highest prevalence was found in rainy season (83.6%) followed by summer (78.6%) and winter (59.4%) with significant seasonal variations (P=0.000). Conclusion: Finally, GI parasites are endemic among small ruminants in the study area. Knowledge on these parasites and related epidemiological parameters is important for outlining fruitful control strategies against GI parasites.

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasitic Infections in Sheep and Goats of Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh

“…The overall sex-specific prevalence of GI parasitic infections was higher in female in comparison to male sheep although the trend was opposite in goats. Observations of this study were partially in line with some previously published reports who also observed female animals were more prone to GI parasitic infections (Islam et al 2017a;Singh et al 2017). This could be due to an increase in the level of hormones like progesterone and prolactin during pregnancy and lactation makes female animal more vulnerable to any infection (Lloyd 1983).…”

“…Sheep prefer to graze from the bottom compared to goats (which usually browse the tips of the grass) enable them to feed more larvae (Alderman et al 1993;Silanikove 2000). Our findings showed discrepancy with the observation of Islam et al (2017a) who observed a higher frequency of nematodes in goats and protozoan infections in sheep. This variation may be due to the availability of intermediate hosts, grazing practices and rearing systems (Sangma et al 2013).…”

“…It could be due to the grazing practices in the study areas, mixed grazing and housing gave equal chances of all genders to be infected with gut parasites. The poor health condition had a significant effect on the occurrence of GI parasitism in both sheep and goats as seen in the current investigation and other published reports (Islam et al 2017a;Rahman et al 2017;Dey et al 2020). The animals with 'poor' health condition have low immunity to resist diseases including parasitic infections which might a probable reason of higher frequency of such parasitic infections (Watson et al 1994).…”

Occurrence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Small Ruminants in the Central Part of Myanmar

“…Similar findings were reported in the western zone of India with the occurrence of 85.16% and 79.24% in sheep and goats, respectively, [15]. In contrast, the occurrence of GI parasite prevalence was higher in goats than that in sheep in West India (98% and 88%) [11], Pakistan (78.2% and 78%) [16], and Bangladesh (77% and 65.9%) [17]. The higher prevalence of GI parasitic infections in sheep as compared to goats was probably due to their grazing behavior.…”

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Helminthes among Goats in and around Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

“…Other workers like, Asif et al, (2007) and Raza et al, (2014) reported inconsistent results in prevalence of gastrointestinal parasite infection. The females might be more susceptible gastrointestinal infections due to high stress and low immunity status in female animals during lactational period, post parturient period and also when the animal is pregnant (Islam et al, 2017;Dabasa et al, 2017;Jena et al, 2018).…”