Some parasitic diseases of intensively managed West African Dwarf sheep and goats in Nsukka, eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Sarcoptic mange, tick infestation ( Amblyoma variegatum) and parasitic gastroenteritis (PGE) caused by Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus colubriformis were the important parasitic diseases in a flock of West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep and goats in the Nsukka area of eastern Nigeria during April to September 1979. They caused increasing morbidity and an average monthly mortality of 15·1% from June onwards. The goats were more severely affected by mange and PGE than the sheep. Overcrowding in sheds during the warm wet months of May to September and the ineffective use of acaricides were responsible for the rapid spread and the severity of mange and tick infestations, while poor grazing management and total absence of formal prophylactic or curative anthelmintic programmes were primarily responsible for the high incidence of PGE. Subclinical coccidiosis and trypanosomiasis ( T. congolense) were present mainly in June and July but fluke infection and infections by Anaplasma, Babesia, Eperythrozoon and other blood parasites were absent in the flock and are probably unimportant in WAD sheep and goats in the locality.