Assessment of Small Ruminant Haemonchosis and Its Associated Risk Factors in and Around Finoteselam, Ethiopia

Abstract

Haemonchus contortus a blood sucking nematode parasite of small ruminants across the tropics and subtropics causes an insidious drain on production, retarded growth and even mortality in young animals. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of haemonchosis in randomly selected and slaughtered sheep and goats in four different restaurants in Finoteselam town, Amhara region. The study was performed on a total of randomly selected 397 small ruminants (37 sheep and 360 goats). A questionnaire survey, coprological examination, hematocrit (PCV) determination and postmortem examinations were the methods used for this study. The overall prevalence in the current study was 71.03%, while prevalence in sheep and goat were 67.57 % and 71.39 % respectively. The prevalence of haemonchosis with species difference of the animal was not statistically significant (P=0.626). The infection rate with relation to sex (P= 0.102) and age (P= 0.603) were statistically non-significant. The prevalence of haemonchosis was higher in males (73.22 %) and adult animals (71.43%). There was no statistical significant difference observed among the risk factors except the PCV value between sheep and goats which was statistically significant (P= 0.000). The prevalence of haemonchosis in the study area was mostly associated with the epidemiological factors such as body condition and origin (collection sites) of animals and host factors such as species, sex and age.