Work

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Bovine and Ovine Lungworm Infection at Durame District, Southern Ethiopia

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Lungworms are parasitic nematodes of the order Strongylidae that infect the lungs of cattle and sheep and cause bronchitis or pneumonia. METHODS: An abattoir-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2018 to April 2019 to determine the comparative prevalence and the possible risk factors of lungworm infection in sheep and cattle of Durame district of Kembata Tembaro zone. For this purpose, a total of 410 animals (209 sheep and 201 cattle) were randomly selected and examined for the presence of different lungworm species using the modified Baermann technique and postmortem examination. The sensitivity and specificity of fecal sample test considering necropsy as reference/gold standard was conducted. RESULTS: < 0.05) with the occurrence of lungworms in sheep and cattle. The lungworm infection was higher in the young age group (25.30%) and poor body conditioned (32.14%) animals. Season-wise prevalence revealed that a higher lungworm infection was recorded during autumn (32.14%) as compared to winter (22.81%) and spring (16.2%). Most of the sheep and cattle in the current study were heavily (45.0%) and moderately (39.0%) infected with lungworms whereas the rest 16.0% were infected with a low degree of lungworm infection. The specificity, sensitivity, PPV, and NPV of the modified Baermann technique against the gold standard test were 89.4%, 42%, 56.0%, and 82.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that lungworm infection is prevalent in sheep and cattle of the study area and that was commonly occurs during autumn and affects poorly conditioned sheep and cattle. Thus, routine and strategic deworming for the control and prevention of lungworms in domestic animals should be recommended to overwhelm the prevalence of lungworm infection.

Source: Journal of Parasitology Research

DOI: 10.1155/2021/6637718

Authors: Haben Fesseha, Mesfin Mathewos

Institution: Wolaita Sodo University

Language: English

Topic: Helminth infection and control

Subfield: Parasitology

Field: Immunology and Microbiology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,000