Prevalence of Major Skin Diseases in Ruminants and its associated Risk Factors at University of Gondar Veterinary Clinic, North West Ethiopia

Abstract

A crossectional study was carried out during the period between November, 2013 to April, 2014 to determine the prevalence of major skin disease and to identify the dominant risk factors for this disease in Gondar university veterinary clinic. A total of 1296 ruminants that came to the Clinic were involved in the study. Out of this 513 (39.6%) cattle, 631 (48.7%) sheep and 152 (11.7%) goat was included. Skin scraping, morphological identification and clinical presentation were the methods employed for identification of mange mites and Dermatophilosis, gross ectoparasites and viral skin disease respectively. 468 (36.1%) were infested with one or more skin diseases. The prevalence of skin diseases in cattle, sheep and goats were 142 (27.68%), 268 (42.47%) and 58 (38.12%) respectively. The difference in the prevalence of skin diseases among the three host species was statistically significant (p <0.05). The major skin diseases identified on ruminants were tick 116 (8.95%), mange 31 (2.39%), lice 91 (7.02%), sheep ked 72 (5.56%), lumpy skin disease 29 (2.24%), Dermatophilosis 9 (0.69%), orf 45 (3.47%) and sheep and goat pox 77 (5.94%). The study demonstrates that skin disease is among the most important health constraints of ruminants in and around Gondar town, hence requires immediate attention and control interventions.