Diversity, Prevalence, and Risk Factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Sheep Herds Grazing in Upper Dir district, Northern Pakistan

Fadladdin, Yousef Abdal Jalil; Shah, Muhammad Zahid; Khan, Kamran; Saleem, Maaz

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.325674.2401

Diversity, Prevalence, and Risk Factors of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Sheep Herds Grazing in Upper Dir district, Northern Pakistan

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

² Department of Basic and Applied Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal Dir Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

10.21608/ejvs.2025.325674.2401

Abstract

In developing countries parasitic diseases caused by intestinal parasites pose a significant challenge to livestock production. Therefore, this study focuses on evaluating the incidence rate of gastrointestinal parasites (GIP) in grazing herds of sheep in Northern Pakistan. Fresh fecal samples were collected from herds of Hastnaghari breed (n = 91), Rambouillet cross breed (n = 88) and non-descript sheep (n = 121) from November 2020 to May 2021. Samples were examined for isolation and identification of GIP by direct smear method, fecal floatation and sedimentation techniques. The overall prevalence of GIP observed was 64% out of which 53.6% sheep were harbouring single parasite species, whereas, 46.4% had multiple parasite species. Effect of sex (P = 0.00), age (P = 0.024), housing system (P = 0. 035) and the use of anthelmintic (P = 0.002) were observed as significant sources of variation in the incidence of GIP. Likewise, GIP were significantly prevalent more in ewes (65.8%) than rams (61.1%), young sheep (< 1 year; 82.80%) than adult sheep and in sheep reared in “Kaccha” housing system than reared in Pakka houses. Likewise, in sheep that did not receive anthelmintics, the prevalence was significantly higher (92.7%) than those received (7.3%). Specie-wise analysis of the GIP revealed higher (P = 0.003) incidence rate for Haemonchus (28.2%), Eimeria crandallis (23.3%) and Moniezia species (13.6%). The Haemonchus + Trichuris category was more prevalent (47.0%) in double parasitic infection, while Haemonchus + Strongyloides + Moniezia category infection was more (52.2%) prevalent in triple infection. The high prevalence of GIP in sheep poses a serious threat to the small ruminant industry in Northern Pakistan. Proper control measures keeping in view of the contributing factors and awareness of the farmers are therefore recommended to optimize farmer’s income from sheep rearing.

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