CRYPTOSPORIDIUM SPP. IN SMALL RUMINANT AT THE CENTRAL STEPPE IN ALGERIA: OCCURRENCE AND SANITARY EFFECT

摘要

Cryptosporidium spp . are diarrhoeic parasites of man and wide ranges of animals with major health implications. To explore their presence in small ruminant from the steppe in Algeria a sampling of 1402 stools was carried out on 875 sheep and 527 goats with different ages, sex and clinic status at many sites from Laghouat, Djelfa and El-Bayadh. Fecal specimens were concentrated and stained by the modified Ziehl-Neelsen acid fast technique.? Cryptosporidium spp . were identified in 3.77% of sheep and 22.09% of its herds and in 5.12% of goats and 28.36% of hits herds, without age relation neither diarrhea depending, only few cases have been isolated from young diarrhoeic animals. But regarding the type of rearing, it shows strongly correlated to the infection in small ruminant. This study reveals for the first time the occurrence of Cryptosporidium in goats and confirms its presence in sheep from steppe in Algeria.