Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasitic Infections in Sheep and Goats of Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infection is considered a common problem in sheep and goat production in Bangladesh. The current investigation was undertaken to determine the prevalence of GI parasitic infection and its associated risk factors (e.g., age, sex, nutritional & deworming status etc.) in sheep and goats of the Sandwip Island, Chattogram, Bangladesh. A total of 330 faecal samples of which 220 sheep and 110 goats were taken using a random sampling method. All the samples were subjected to routine coproscopy (e.g., direct smear, flotation and sedimentation) to detect the eggs/oocysts of helminths and protozoan parasites. Results demonstrated that the overall prevalence of GI parasitic infections was 68.64% in sheep and 61.82% in goats. The frequency of nematodes and trematodes was higher in comparison to cestodes and protozoan infections in both sheep and goats of all the three study areas. Age-specific prevalence demonstrated that adult goats had significantly higher GI parasitic infections in comparison to the young population. Female sheep were more prone to GI parasitic infections whereas the opposite trend was noticed for goats. The sheep and goats having the ‘poor’ body condition score/nutritional status were more susceptible to parasitic infections compared to moderate and good health conditions. Rarely or non-dewormed sheep and goats also harboured more GI parasites compared ‘dewormed animals’. The current investigation was fresh of its types in the study areas, therefore, we recommended extensive studies including epidemiological and molecular approaches to identify GI parasitic diseases and their associated risk factors.