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| Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Helminth Parasites of Sheep in Abeche Area, Ouaddai State, Chad |
A. E. Bashar , O.H. Adam and A. A. Mohammed
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Abstract:
: Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of sheep remain one of the main constraints to sheep production in Chad as they cause reduction of animal productivity by reduction of body weight and milk yield. An epidemiological study was carried out to determine the prevalence, distribution and intensity of gastrointestinal helminth parasites of sheep and the effect of seasonal and climatic factors as disease determinants in Abeche area of Ouaddai State, Chad, from March 2015 to February 2016. Total of 1981(1466 males and 515 females) pre-slaughtered sheep faecal samples and 40 gastrointestinal tracts (GIT) of slaughtered sheep of different ages were randomly collected from Abeche abattoir and tested for the presence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites in different seasons. The effect of seasonal and climatic factors on the prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal helminth parasites infections were determined. Faecal examination for GIT parasites eggs, revealed overall prevalence of (43.2%),while males showed slightly higher prevalence (43.3%) than females (42.9%), with overall mean total faecal egg count (TFEC ąSE) of 555.75ą37.98. Female sheep showed significant (P = 0.01) higher overall mean (ąSE) of TFEG as compared to males. The seasonal overall prevalence of GIT helminth parasites based on faecal egg detection was observed to be highest (64.5%) in hot wet and lowest in hot dry (25.3%) seasons. Rainfall, relative humidity and temperature are the main climatic factors associated positively with the seasonality and distribution of gastrointestinal helminth parasites. Eighty percent of sheep were found infected with adult gastrointestinal helminth parasites. The helminth parasites observed were Haemonchus contortus, Oestertagia oestertagia, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Strongyloides papillosis, Nematodirus spathinger, Bonustomum trigonocephalum, Trichuris ovis, Oesophaostomum columbianum, Moniezia expansa, Paramphistomum cervi and Dicrocoelium dendreticum. The study showed that nematodes, trematodes and cestodes were prevalent in the area with high prevalence in hot wet season, hence the need for deworming programme during the rainy season.
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