Research Article

Health science

STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF OVINE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT NEMATODES IN AND AROUND HAWASSA TOWN, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA

A cross sectional study from November 2017 to April 2018 was conducted to estimate the prevalence and risk factors associated with major sheep gastrointestinal tract nematodes in and around Hawassa town of Southern Nation Nationalities and People region, Ethiopia. A total of 384 randomly selected sheep fecal samples were examined using flotation technique. Out of the total sampled sheep, 265(69%) had a gastrointestinal nematode infection. Coprological investigation revealed that sheep in the district were infested by a variety of helminth nematodes. Among nematode eggs Strongyles were most frequently ( 37.9%) recorded followed by Strongyloides (35.9%) and Trichuris species (11.4%).The study revealed statistically non-significant differences (p>0.05) between male and female sheep, even though, higher prevalence was recorded in females. There was also statistically no significant difference (p>0.05) between age groups of sheep and study sites. However, a significant difference (p<0.05) between body condition of the animals was recorded , with higher prevalence in animals with poor body condition being 1.72 times more exposed to gastrointestinal nematode infection than animals in good body condition with CI (1.08369-2.71624). Gastrointestinal nematodes are one of the major problems that could hamper health and productivity of sheep in the study area. Therefore, emphasis on the control and prevention of GIT nematodes should be given, with further studies on genus and species identification of nematode eggs followed by strong recommendations to tackle the problem in the study area.