Major ectoparasites of small ruminants in Bench Maji Zone, southern Ethiopia

摘要

Acrosssectionalstudywasconductedduringtheperiod1stOctober2015to30thApril2015,toestimateprevalenceandassociatedfactors,andtoidentifytheectoparasitefaunaofsmallruminants(sheepandgoat)inBenchMajiZoneofsouthernEthiopia.Atotalof384animals(144goatsand240sheep)ofbothsex(157maleand227female)anddifferentagegroups(385adultand79young)wereexaminedandsampled.Bothphysicalexaminationandlaboratoryinvestigationwereemployedinthestudy.Theoverallprevalenceofectoparasiteswas35.4%(136/384),andsmallruminantswereinfestedwithoneormoreparasites.Individualspeciesprevalenceofectoparsiteswas37.8%and31.3%insheepandgoatsrespectively.Themajorectoparasitesidentifiedweretick,liceandmitewithprevalenceof15.4%,14.8%and5.2%respectively.Thepresentstudyrevealedtheprevalenceoftickswashigheringoats(22.9%)thaninsheep(10.8%)whiletheprevalenceoflicewashigherinsheep(20.8%)thaningoats(4.9%)(p0.05).Inthepresentstudy,overall,fourgeneraandtenspeciesofectoparasiteswereregistered.AmongthetickRhipicephalusdecoloratusandAmblyomacoherencewerethehighestinbothsheep(6.0%,5.5%)andgoats(9.0%,8.3%),respectively.Outofthethreespeciesoflicerecordedinsheep,Damalinaovis(16.7%)wasthemostprevalentfollowedbyL.ovillus(1.6%).H.eurysternuswastheonlyspeciesoflicerecordedingoats.Inthepresentstudy,miteswererecordedonlyinsheepnamelyPsoroptesovisandChorioptesoviswithprevalenceof2.1%and1.8%respectively.Theassociationofage,sexandbodyconditionwiththeprevalenceectoparsiteswasalsocomputedandrevealedvariableresults.WiththeexceptionofA.coherencewhichwas7timesmoreprevalentinyoung(30.4%)thanadultgoats(4.1%)(p=0.00),agewasnotfoundtohavesignificantassociationwiththeprevalenceofotherectoparsites.LikewiseonlyA.variegatuminsheepandbothA.variegatumandR.decoloratusingoatswerefoundtobeverymuchprevalentinanimalswithpoorbodycondition(p0.05).SimilarlytheprevalenceofD.oviswashigherinsheepwithpoor(27.3%)thanmediumbodycondition(p=0.00).Variable-sexwasnotfoundtohaveanysignificantassociationwiththeprevalenceofectoparasiteswiththeexceptionofP.oviswhichwassignificantlyhigherinmale(6.7%)thaninfemalesheep(3.7%)(p=0.01).Fromthefindingofthiswork,itcanbeconcludedthatectoparasitesareprevalentinsmallruminantsandmaycontributetothelowerproductivityofgoatsandsheepinthestudyarea.Therefore,attentionshouldbegivenonappropriatediseasemitigationinordertoenhancetheoutputfromtheseanimals.