AN EPIDEMIO-COPROLOGICAL STUDY OF PROTOZOAN AND NEMATODE PARASITES OF RUMINANTS IN TROPICAL SEMI-ARID DISTRICT OF SOMALILAND (NORTHERN OF SOMALIA)

The present study showed that the prevalence of gastrointestinal
parasites in overall studied ruminants (cattle, sheep and goats) where
highest with Trichsrtongylus Axei 26.9% (n=343), Lungworm
(Dictyocaulus spp.) 9.8%, (n= 125), Eimeria (Coccidia) 7.2% (n=92),
Ascaris (Neoscaris vitulorum) 3.6% (n=14), and Homonchus
contortus 2.3% (n=30) respectively. For cattle, the overall
prevalence was 30.9% (n=120) with highest by Trichsrtongylus Axei
22.9% (n=89), Ascaris 3.6% (n=14), Lungworm 2.3% (n=9) and
Homonchus 2.1% (n=8) respectively. For sheep, the overall
prevalence was 60.7% (n= 282) with highest by Trichsrtongylus Axei
30.5% (n=142), Lungworm 17.8% (n=83), Eimeria 9.3% (n=43), and
Homonchus 2.6% (n=14) respectively. For goats, the overall
prevalence was 47.8% (n=202) with highest by Trichsrtongylus Axei
26.5% (n=112), Eimeria 11.6% (n=49), Lungworm 7.8% (n=33) and Homonchus 1.9% (n=8) respectively. Prevlence difference were
recorded in different studied regions where it was highest in Odweyne
54.2% (n=149), Burao 50.2% (n=213), Sheikh 45.1% (n=156),
followed by Berbera 37.1% (n=86) respectively. According to sex,
prevalence for females were higher 51.1% (n= 342) than males
43.1% (n=262). For cattle, females were 34.3% (n=69) and males
27.1% (n=51). For sheep, females 63.9% (n=161) and males 56.8%
(n=121). For goats, females 51.9% (n=112) and males 43.5% (n=90)
however, the higher prevalence in females was not significant than
that of males. A statistically significant difference was found in
prevalence and egg output (eggs per gram; EPG) among species of
animals considered. A higher rate was recovered in small ruminants
than in cattle, and a greater proportion of study animals had low EPG
compared with study animals with moderate to severe EPG. The
severity of infestation (EPG%) in relation to species where examined
for 1277 animals, overall prevalence was 47.3% (n=604), low was
62.9% (n=380), moderate 26.7% (n=161), and severe was 10.4%
(n=63). Cattle examined were 389 with over all prevalence of 30.9%
(n=120) where the low degree was 68.3% (n=82), moderate 25.0%
(n=30) and severe was 6.7% (n=8). Sheep examined were 465 with
over all prevalence of 60.7% (n=282) where the low degree was
61.7% (n=174), moderate 28.4% (n=80) and severe was 9.9%
(n=28). Goats examined were 423 with over all prevalence of 47.8%
(n=202) where the low degree was 61.4% (n=124), moderate 25.2%
(n=51) and severe was 13.4% (n=27). The EPG% vary among studied
regions with high degree (severe) in Burao 6.1% (n=26) regions
(highest than other regions and lowest severity were found in Berbera
region 3.5% (n=8). The EPG% vary between males and females with
little significance. Season were shown to have association with
prevalence but not with EPG while no association was revealed between prevalence and EPG with sex, age, and body condition of the
animals. The EPG% vary between Dry season (May to October) and
wet season (November to April) with significant variance as it was
much higher in wet season 54.1% (n=457) than in dry season 34.0%
(n=147) . Hence, in this study, species of the animals, season, and sex
are important risk factors associated with gastrointestinal parasites in
the studied regions. It was found that the prevalence of internal
parasitic infections was higher in sheep 60.7% (n=282) than in goats
47.8% (n=202). And small ruminant prevalence were higher than in
cattle 30.9% (n=120). The most prevalent gastrointestinal nematode
was in both host species Trichostrongylus axei.