Comparison of resistance of four genotypes of rams to experimental infection with Haemonchus contortus

Abstract

Fifty-five rams aged about 18–24 months weighing 30–42 kg were used in this study. Ten rams of each of four genotypes, S (Sumatra), H1 (50% Sumatra—50% Virgin Island), B1 (50% Sumatra—50% Barbados Blackbelly), E1 (50% Sumatra—50% Java Fat-tail), were infected orally with a newly isolated strain of Haemonchus contortus. Each animal received 2000 infective larvae 3 times week −1 for 3 weeks, with a total of 18 000 larvae. Fifteen rams belonging to Sumatra and its crosses with Virgin Island were used as uninfected controls. Peak egg counts were observed on Day 35 for genotype B1 and on Day 42 for genotype H1 and S. In genotype E1 a slow but consistent increase in EPG continued until Day 49 when the experiments terminated. Overall faecal egg counts at all sampling dates were not statistically different between genotypes ( P > 0.05). There was a large variation in the EPG of individual rams within a genotype. The overall average EPG (geometric means) of individual rams within a genotype ranged from 3 to 1028 for B1, 4 to 261 for E1, 7 to 3119 for H1 and 9 to 506 for S. The analysis of packed cell volume (PCV) for four genotypes and controls from all sampling times showed significant differences ( P < 0.05). The overall mean PCV was highest in S (31.1) and lowest in H1 (28.4). The ranking of four genotypes for PCV was S > E1 > B1 > H1. The decrease of PCV during the course of infection was highly significant for all genotypes of infected rams (B1, E1, H1, S) ( P < 0.01). PCV of the control group did not exhibit much change during the course of the experimental period. Weight gain of infected rams was lower than those of uninfected controls ( P < 0.5) but there was no significant difference between the four genotypes of infected rams. Individual variation within genotype in susceptibility to infections was generally more important than between genotype differences. Two major conclusions of the present study are: (1) The imported breeds with higher body weight, namely the Barbados Blackbelly and Virgin Island, may be used in cross breeding to increase the body size of local Sumatra sheep. (2) Based on the faecal egg counts it is possible to identify the animals for use in selective breeding programmes for higher resistance to H. contortus.