Prevalence Rate and Molecular Characteristics of Oestrus ovis L. (Diptera, Oestridae) in Sheep and Goats from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dina M Metwally,Isra M Al-Turaiki,Shurug A Albasyouni,Amal M Almuhanna,Manal F El-Khadragy,Ibrahim A H Barakat,Muhammad A Bashir,Reem A Alajmi,Hanadi B Baghdadi

doi:10.3390/ani11030689

Abstract

Heads of sheep (n = 600) and goats (n = 800) slaughtered at Al-Aziziah Abattoir in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were inspected for the presence of O. ovis larvae (L). Heads were split along the longitudinal axes, and larvae (L1, L2, and L3) were gathered. The infestation rate was significantly higher in goats (44.5%; 356/800) than that in sheep (22.3%; 134/600). Out of the 151 collected larvae from sheep, 0% were L1, 1.3% were L2, and 98.7% were L3. Out of the total of 468 larvae from goats, 0% were L1, 1.2% were L2, and 98.8% were L3. The infestation rate was significantly higher in males than that in females. Myiasis-causing larvae collected from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were authenticated as O. ovis, according to morphological characteristics. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a partial fragment (600 bp) of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene further confirmed the species. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial mtCOI gene sequence demonstrated that 23 unique sequences showed high similarity based on nucleotide pairs of O. ovis accessions retrieved from GenBank.

Highlights

The sheep gadfly O. ovis Linnaeus 1761 (Diptera, Oestridae) is one cause of myiasis in sheep and goats
This study was conducted between March 2019 and January 2020 in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Riyadh City is in the center of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Summary

Introduction

The sheep gadfly O. ovis Linnaeus 1761 (Diptera, Oestridae) is one cause of myiasis in sheep and goats. Myiasis lowers the health of animals and causes major economic losses to the livestock industry due to abortion, reduced milk production, loss of weight gain, and fertility [2]. The incidence of O. ovis-related myiasis in the Jazan area was previously reported to be as high as 53.54% [1]. Morphological characterizations of the larvae (e.g., slits of the posterior spiracles found on the posterior spiracle plates), and occasional identification of the adult fly are among the many approaches leading to the diagnosis of myiasis [4]. Molecular methods facilitate in the diagnosis and detection of a wide variety of species, including flies that cause myiasis [5,6].

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Conclusion