Prevalence of Hemonchus Contortus in Naturally Affected Sheep and Goat Population of District D.I.Khan and Lakki Marwat

Abstract

Small ruminants are preferably raised for meat production and hair or wool and milk as by-products and the population of sheep and goats has been growing exponentially among all species of livestock in Pakistan. But the small ruminants’ production has faced huge implications of gastrointestinal worms’ infestations and thereby significant reduction in the production of the animals. The parasitic burden is not only health devastating but also caused severe parasitic infections and production losses. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Haemonchus contortus in small ruminants in District Dera Ismail Khan (D. I. Khan) and Lakki Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and to determine the worm burden of Haemonchus contortus in terms of Egg per gram and to study the risk factors of the disease. For this purpose, a total of 480 fecal samples were collected randomly from the sheep and goat population of the District D.I. Khan and Lakki Marwat, during the four seasons of the year 2020-21 and 2021-22, for the determination of the prevalence of Haemonchus contortus. The results revealed that 12.97 and 13.30% were the overall prevalence of Haemonchus contortus in sheep and goats, respectively. The area-wise incidence of Haemonchus contortus in sheep and goats population, in District D. I. Khan and Lakki Marwat, was 11.25 and 15.68% in sheep and 12.50 and 15.51% in goats population. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the prevalence of the parasite in both districts D. I. Khan and Lakki Marwat, whereby the incidence was significantly higher (P<0.05) in Lakki Marwat. The males showed a prevalence of 11.57% while, females showed a prevalence of 13.64%, thus the difference was non-significant (P≥0.05). As the Haemonchus contortus bears major economic importance in both species of small ruminants and decline the production significantly and badly affects the health and growth of the animals, the results of the current study revealed that both the Districts of Pakistan are endemic for the Haemonchus contortus infestation and requires special attention to its control.