Prevalence and seasonal incidence of nematode parasites and fluke infections of sheep and goats in eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

A 2-year abattoir survey was carried out to determine the prevalence, abundance and seasonal incidence of gastro-intestinal (GI) nematodes and trematodes (flukes) of sheep and goats in the semi-arid zone of eastern Ethiopia. During May 2003 to April 2005, viscera including liver, lungs and GI tracts were collected from 655 sheep and 632 goats slaughtered at 4 abattoirs located in the towns of Haramaya, Harar, Dire Dawa and Jijiga in eastern Ethiopia. All animals were raised in the farming areas located within the community boundaries for each town. Collected materials were transported within 24 h to the parasitology laboratory of Haramaya University for immediate processing. Thirteen species belonging to 9 genera of GI nematodes (Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus axei, T. colubriformis, T. vitrinus, Nematodirus filicollis, N. spathiger Oesopha-gostomum columbianum, O. venulosum, Strongyloides papillosus, Bunostomum trigonocephalum, Trichuris ovis, Cooperia curticei and Chabertia ovina), and 4 species belonging to 3 genera of trematodes (Fasciola hepatica, F. gigantica, Paramphistomum {Calicohoron} microbothrium and Dicrocoelium dendriticum) were recorded in both sheep and goats. All animals in this investigation were infected with multiple species to varying degrees. The mean burdens of adult nematodes were generally moderate in both sheep and goats and showed patterns of seasonal abundance that corresponded with the bi-modal annual rainfall pattern, with highest burdens around the middle of the rainy season. In both sheep and goats there were significant differences in the mean worm burdens and abundance of the different nematode species between the four geographic locations, with worm burdens in the Haramaya and Harar areas greater than those observed in the Dire Dawa and Jijiga locations. Similar seasonal variations were also observed in the prevalence of flukes. But there were no significant differences in the prevalence of each fluke species between the four locations. Overall, the results showed that Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus, Oesophagostomum, Fasciola and Paramphistomum species were the most abundant helminth parasites of sheep and goats in eastern Ethiopia.

Calicophoron daubneyi in sheep and cattle of Sardinia, Italy

“…In cattle farms, the prevalence of 55.9 % seems to be increasing if compared to the survey carried out in the same region by Scala et al (1997a) 18 years ago, where a prevalence of 19.6 % was found; The values found here are in according to the report of Cringoli et al (2012), (55.7 %), while are lower compared to Spanish (61 %) and Uruguayan (69 %) reports as described by Sanchís et al, (2013). The slaughterhouse's survey revealed a very low prevalence of paramphistomosis in sheep (2 %), similar to fi ndings from Iran (0.041 %) (Tehrani et al, 2015) and Turkey (4.43 %) (Ozdal et al, 2010) but was much lower compared to records from Ethiopia (25 %) (Sissay et al, 2007) and India (36.2 %) (Godara et al, 2014). The lower values obtained from sheep coprological analysis and in slaughterhouse's survey could be probably due to the fact that in this species the infection seems to be less frequent than in cattle (Rojo-Vázquez et al, 2012).…”

“…and Bulinus spp. (Pavlović et al, 2012;Spence et al, 1996) which lives in aquatic permanent habitats, Calicophoron spp. have as main intermediate host Galba truncatula, which could live in temporary habitats (Abrous et al, 2000;Augot et al, 1996).…”

“…(Pavlović et al, 2012;Spence et al, 1996) which lives in aquatic permanent habitats, Calicophoron spp. have as main intermediate host Galba truncatula, which could live in temporary habitats (Abrous et al, 2000;Augot et al, 1996). In addition Galba truncatula is also the intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica, and this snail species can also harbor double infections by both genus (Abrous et al, 1999;Abrous et al, 2000;Augot et al, 1996).…”

Validation of the FAMACHA© Eye Color Technique for Detecting Anemic Sheep and Goats in Jigjiga Zone of Somali Region, Eastern Ethiopia

“…(Sissay et al, 2007) are among the biological constraints in Ethiopia affecting sheep and goats production. However, for the pastoralists drugs are relatively expensive and are often not accessible Res.…”

“…J. Vet. Sci., 8 (3): 61-67, 2015(Sissay et al, 2007 but a selective approach that targets the portion of the herd or flock with high worm burdens is an opportunity for successfully control parasites in the entire group while reducing drug costs and delaying the development of anthelmintic resistance (Barger, 1985).…”