Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasitic Infection in Sheep and Goats of Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasitic infection is considered one of the major concerns of small ruminants (e.g., sheep and goat) production in Bangladesh. The current study was undertaken to explore the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infection in small ruminants (sheep and goats) and its associated risk factors (e.g., age, sex, lactation, nutritional status, feeding practices etc.) in sheep and goats of three areas (Bauria, Magdhara and Santoshpur) of the Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh. A total of 330 fecal samples of which 220 sheep and 110 goats were taken following random sampling technique from June to July 2019. The samples were subjected to direct smear, flotation and sedimentation techniques to screen out the positive samples. Results demonstrated that the overall prevalence of GI parasitic infection was 66.36% in small ruminants. Species wise prevalence indicated that 68.64% of sheep and 61.82% of goats harbored various parasitic infections. Seven types of gastrointestinal parasites (Fasciola sp., Paramphistomum sp., Moniezia sp., Strongyles, Strongyloides sp., Trichuris sp. and Eimeria sp.) were identified of which Strongyles (37.27%) were higher in sheep and Fasciola sp. (29.09%) was higher in goats. The prevalence of GI parasites was higher in Bauria (72.96%) among three areas of Sandwip. The prevalence GI parasites showed that poor health condition of animals (88.50%) were significantly more susceptible than the moderate (55.56%) and good health animals (54.41%). It was also observed that dewormed animals (>3 months interval) (70.23%) were significantly more prone to parasitic infection than the dewormed animals (≤3 months interval) (59.13%). The current study was fresh of its types and we recommended further studies for molecular detection of such diseases which will assist to take necessary prevention measures.