Helminth parasites of the digestive system of sheep in Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Abstract

Helminth parasites of the digestive system of sheep in Mymensingh, Bangladesh were studied during the period January to December, 2004. For this, the digestive system were collected from sheep slaughtered at slaughter houses of Mymensingh town and the Bangladesh Agricultural University Campus and were subjected to routine examination for the collection of helminth parasites. A total of 150 sheep were examined of which 142 (94.67%) were positive for one/more species of helminth parasites, among them six species belonged to trematodes, namely, Fasciola gigantica, Schistosoma indicum, Paramphistomum cervi, Cotylophoron cotylophorum, Grastrothylax crumenifer and Homalogaster paloniae, two species belonged to cestodes, namely, Moniezia expansa and Moniezia benedeni and three species belonged to nematodes, namely Haemonchus contortus, Oesophagostomum columbianum and Trichuris ovis. Relatively higher occurrence was recorded in winter season (100%) followed by rainy (96%) and summer (88.57%). In relation to age, the occurrence of helminth parasites in younger ( < 1 year) and in old (≥2 years) sheep was 100% but in young (≥1-2 years) was 76.09%. In relation to sex, the occurrence of helminth parasites was 100% in female and 78.57% in male sheep. Key words: Helminth, digestive system, sheep DOI = 10.3329/bjvm.v4i2.1294 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2006). 4 (2): 117-122