Mohammed Ali, Tegene Assefa and Andualem Yimer
This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and intensity of small ruminant Cryptosporidium infection and to investigate the role of potential risk factors associated with the occurrence of the disease in Ziway dugda district of east arsi zone, Ethiopia. Faecal samples were collected from 174 sheep and 210 goats under the age of one year. Samples were analysed using the sheather’s sugar solution flotation technique and Modified Ziehl–Neelsen staining technique. 59 samples were found positive giving an overall prevalence of 15.4%. Significant difference (P<0.05,) was observed in the prevalence of small ruminant Cryptosporidium infection among poor, medium and good body condition animals (p-value=0.004), and in between diarrheic and non- diarrheic animals (p-value=0.002). However, all the risk factors considered in this study had no significant effect (p- value>0.05) on the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection. Regarding the intensity of the infection, 31 samples (8.1%) were scored as “high,” 17 (4.4%) were scored as “moderate,” and 11 (2.9%) were scored as “low,” while the remaining 325 samples (84.6%) were “negative”. The intensity of Cryptosporidium infection is significantly higher in small ruminants having poor body condition (p-value=0.038) and diarrhea (p-value=0.025). This study demonstrated the importance of Cryptosporidium infection in small ruminants less than one year of age and having diarrhea and poor body condition in Ziway dugda district of east arsi zone, Ethiopia.
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