Prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal nematodes infection in sheep and goats in semi-intensively managed farm, South Ethiopia

Infections with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) severely affect small ruminant's health and compromise their productivity and reproductive performances and can be a major cause of economic losses in small ruminant production. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2017 in semi-intensively managed sheep and goats farm to determine the prevalence and intensity, and to identify the major genera of GIN. Faecal samples collected from a total of 192 small ruminants (60 sheep and 132 goats) were examined by McMaster technique and those samples positive for GIN were cultured for identification of the major genera. Furthermore, blood samples were collected from 112 goats for determination of the packed cell volume (PCV). The prevalence of GIN infection in the current study was 83.3 and 87.9% in sheep and goats, respectively. There was no statistically significant (p>0.05) difference in prevalence between sheep and goats. The faecal egg count (FEC) result showed that 60% of sheep and 48.3% of goats examined were heavily infected. No statistically significant difference (p>0.05) was noted in mean FEC between sheep and goats. The mean PCV was significantly (p<0.05) lower in parasitaemic goats (23.2±0.35 SE) than aparasitaemic ones (26.9±0.73 SE). Faecal culture from positive animals revealed the same genera of GIN in both sheep and goats. These are Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Oesophagostomum, Bunostomum and Trichuris species in order of their abundance. In general, the present study showed a high prevalence and intensity of GIN infection in both sheep and goats in the study farm demanding strategic deworming practice and appropriate pasture management.