Survey Of Internal Parasites In Sheep And Goats In The White Nile State – Sudan (April – May 2009)

Abstract

The present study was carried out in the White Nile State during the period of April – May 2009 to determine the prevalence rate of internal parasites in sheep and goats. A total of 409 animals were examined in four areas of which 51, 53 and 50 animals from eachspecies in Al gazeera Aba, Rabak and Kosti areas, respectively. Besides,51 sheep and 50 goats were examined in Omjar area. For detecting the ova and ooysts, fecal samples were collected directly from the rectum and examined using the floatation method and the modified McMaster egg counting technique for counting nematode eggs and coccidian oocysts. The sedimentation method was used for trematode eggs. The resultsindicated that gastrointestinal parasites are common in sheep and goats and that overall parasites egg counts were higher in the goats. The overall prevalence of infection in sheep and goats was 79%, and about 36% – 57% of sheep and 41% – 44% ofgoats had single infections. The parasites detected were Coccidia (41.2% in sheep and 50.2% in goats), Strongylids(24.5% in sheep and 31.2% in goats), Schistosoma (23.o% in sheep and 26.8% in goats), Monezia(25.5% in sheep and 15.6% in goats), Fasciola (5.9% in sheep and 6.8% in goats), Paramphistomum(2.0% in sheep and 2.9% in goats), Trichuris (0.5% in sheep and 2.9% in goats), and Strongyliodes (0.97% in goats). In general,the prevalence of parasitic infections were higher in goats than in sheep (81.95% and 76.96% respectively) and that Coccidia, Strongylidsand Schistosoma infection were the most obvious. X Data obtained from official records and from animal owners indicated that the owners are aware of the importance of internal parasites on the health and productivity of their animals.They treat their animals using anthelmintics, but they do not usually abide by treatment protocol. In general, sheep seem to be more attended than goats, and this may explain the higher prevalence of parasitic infection in goats.