Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in sheep of Subarnachar upazilla in Noakhali district of Bangladesh

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasitic infection is a major cause of failures in sheep production in Bangladesh. A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections of sheep in Subarnachar upazilla of Noakhali district in Bangladesh during January 2017 to December 2017. In total, 200 rectal fecal samples of non-descriptive indigenous sheep were randomly collected and were examined by routine coproscopical methods and modified McMaster technique. The effects of topography, age, sex, rearing system, health status and management system on gastrointestinal parasitic infections were evaluated by chi-square test. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections in sheep was 79.50%. The highest prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections was found in Char Clark union (83.33%) than the others, although their relationship were statistically insignificant (P>0.05). Species wise prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections was Fasciola sp. (37.5%), Paramphistomam sp. (41.0%), Strongyloides sp. (46.0%), Strongyle-type (39.5%), Trichuris sp. (28.0%) and Moniezia sp. (34.0%). The occurrence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections was more in young (90.0%) than the adult sheep (70.90%). Female sheep displayed a higher infection (85.0%) as compared to male (71.25%) and free range grazing sheep (82.66%) in bathan area was more infected as compared to semi-intensive system (77.66%). Good healthy animals had infection with EPG level of 380-1000 as compared to moderate healthy (>1000-2000) and poor healthy (>2000) animals. The animals those were reared under proper management system including regular deworemed by anthelmentics, proper housing and feeding with nutritional supplement were less infected by gastrointestinal parasites. As the present study was fresh of its type in the study areas, further investigation is recommended to evaluate the region specific risk factors.