Veterinary Science & Technology

The Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Nematodes and Associated Risk Factors of Small Ruminants in Damot Sore District of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Yohannes Mekonnen Mena*

A cross sectional study was conducted on 384 small ruminants kept in Damot Sore district of Wolaita zone from November 2021 to May 2022 to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes and to see the association with age, sex, body condition and species of small ruminants. For the purpose of this study, 384 faecal samples were collected from (289 sheep and 95 goats) and examined using standard parasitological procedure for screening gastrointestinal tract nematodes. The faecal samples examined revealed an overall prevalence of 200 (52.1%) in small ruminants with 152 (52.6%) in sheep and 48 (50.5%) in goats. The study revealed that a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in prevalence between age and body condition. The prevalence of nematodes with other risk factors (sex and species of the study animals) was not statistically significant difference (p>0.05). The sex wise prevalence was 53.6% and 48.1% in female and male animals respectively while that of age was 69.3%, 43.0% and 55.1% in young, adult and old animals respectively. Infection was 71.4%, 51.5% and 43.5% in poor, medium and good body conditioned animals respectively. The present study revealed that gastrointestinal nematodes are major parasitic infection problems of small ruminants in the study area and the study area was conducive for the successive maintenance and subsequent transmission of nematodes to susceptible animals. Therefore, effective strategic treatments and control measures should be instituted in the study area. During the treatment and control of small ruminant nematodes, age and body condition should be considered as potential risk factors for the occurrence of the disease. In this study the nematode eggs detected were strongyle type, hence, further laboratory examination is recommended to identify nematodes in to the genus and species level in order to design appropriate control measures.