GASTROINTESTINAL PARASITES OF SHEEP AND GOAT IN AND AROUND GONDAR TOWN, NORTHWEST,

: A cross sectional study was conducted from November 2018 to April 2019 to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with sheep and goat gastrointestinal (GIT) parasites in and around Gondar town, Northwest of Ethiopia. A total of 384 sheep and goats fecal samples (313 sheep and 71 goats) were collected and examined using standard parasitological techniques. The present study revealed that an overall prevalence of 56.77% with prevalence rate of 185 (59.11%) and 33(46.48%) in sheep and goats respectively. From the examined samples mixed infection was recorded with about 21.35%. The parasitic species identified were Strongyle spps (22.14%), Trichuris spps (0.52%), Monezia (2.5%), Emeria spps (0.260%). Female animals were found with higher prevalence of helminthes infection rate than male animals with a prevalence of 48.98% and 61.60%, respectively. Higher prevalence was observed in young animals (69.61%) than adult animals (45.32%). Body conditions and production system also showed significance difference (P<0.05) in the occurrence of GI parasites of sheep and goats in the study area. It can be concluded that, in the study area there was high prevalence of GIT parasites in sheep and goats with age, sex, body condition and production system as important risk factors. Therefore, strategic uses of anthelmintics drugs and good management should be given for the control and prevention of GIT parasites as well as further studies to determine burden of the parasites and seasonal variation is recommended.


Introduction
In Ethiopia small ruminants represent the most important part of the Ethiopian livestock system. These animals are almost entirely managed by the poor small-holder farmers and pastoralists (Sissay, 2007). Sheep and goat are playing an important role in the livelihood of resource poor farmers and provide a vast range Olifan Fayisa et al. 372 of products and services such as meat, milk, skin, hair, manure and food security, gifts, religious rituals and medicine. However, the full exploration of this production was hindered due to traditional husbandry and management system, poor genetic potential of local breeds and the presence of numerous animal diseases (Mtenga et al., 1994).
Gastrointestinal parasite infections are a world-wide problem for both small and large-scale farmers, but their impact is greater in sub-Saharan Africa in general and particularly in Ethiopia due to the availability of a wide range of agroecological factors suitable for diversified hosts and parasite species. Gastrointestinal parasites causes economic losses due to lowered fertility, reduced work capacity, involuntary culling, lower weight gains, treatment costs and mortality in heavily parasitized animals (Fikru, 2006).
Helminthes and coccidia are mentioned to be the most common and important gastro-intestinal parasites in small ruminants. In the tropics, the most important nematode species affecting small ruminants are Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus species, Nematodirus species, Cooperia species, Bunostomum species and Oesophagostomum species (Khan, 2005;Smith, 2009). Coccidian parasites of the genus Eimeria contribute to enteric disease especially in young or stressed goats under poor farm management that leads to high mortality in goat kids (Ratanapob et al., 2012). Even some work has been done on gastrointestinal parasites of sheep and goats in northern Ethiopia, most of the studies were restricted to estimate its prevalence than determination of potential risk factors and effect of management system on occurrence of GIT parasites to develop possible prevention and control strategies. Therefore, this study was designed with the objectives of:  To estimate status of GIT parasites of sheep and goat in Gondar town  To determine effect of management system and other possible risk factors on prevalence of GIT parasites in the study area

Materials and Methods
The Study Area The present study was conducted in and around Gondar town which is located 750 Km away from Addis Ababa, in north Gondar zone, northwest Ethiopia. Geographically, the study area is located on 35°7' N and 13°8' E and an altitude of 2200 meter above sea level. The annual mean temperature of the area was between 15°C and 26°C respectively. It receives a bimodal rainfall with short rainy season occur during the months of March, April, and May while the long ones extend from June to September with mean annual rain fall of 1172 mm (CSA, 2012). The soil type of the area consists of vertisoil and sandy type of soil with vegetation type which varies from larger tree to bushes. The area is characterized by mixed crop livestock production farming system.

Study Animals and management
The study animals were local breeds of small ruminants (sheep= 313 and goat=71) kept in and around Gondar town. Species, sex, body condition, production system and age groups of local origin were included in this study. Adults are above one year with young less than one year was considered in the study according to (Yami and Merkel, 2008) and owner information. Body condition can be also classified as poor, medium and good according to (Yami and Merkel, 2008). The production system is classified based as intensive, semi intensive and extensive production system.
Despite the presence of studies on gastrointestinal parasites of sheep and goats in the study area, there was no comprehensive data showing the status of all GIT parasites in different management systems. Thus, the sample size was determined based on formula given by Thrusfield, (2007) with expected prevalence of 50% and 5% absolute precision at a 95% confidence interval (CI). Accordingly, 384 sheep and goat were sampled (313 sheep and 71goats).

Study design
A cross-sectional study design was used to estimate the prevalence of GIT parasite of sheep and goat in and around Gondar town based on coprological examination. Households were selected purposively based on easy of accessibility and interest of owners. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study animals in examined flocks. Species, age, sex, body condition and production system considered as risk factors for the occurrence of GIT parasite in sheep and goat.

Sample Collection and Laboratory Examination
A fresh fecal sample of approximately 5-10 gram was collected directly from the rectum of sheep and goat by using gloved fingers. Collected fecal samples placed in plastic bottles and transported to the University of Gondar parasitology laboratory for fecal examination. All the necessary information including body condition, sex, age and management systems were labeled. Samples were immediately stored in the refrigerator at 4°C until it was processed. The collected samples were subjected to qualitative flotation and sedimentation parasitological techniques. Identification of egg/ oocysts was performed by their characteristic morphological features as described by (Soulsby, 1982).

Data Management and Analysis
The collected data from field level and laboratory investigation was organized and entered in to MS excel work sheet. Data analysis was done using STATA version 12. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the prevalence of the parasites and Chi-square test (χ2) was used to determine any association between the prevalence of GIT parasites with risk factors. In all data analyses, confidence level was held at 95% and P<0.05 for significance value.

Results
In the present study, the species prevalence of 185 (59.11%) and 33(46.48%) in sheep and goats, respectively were infected at least by one parasite species, and these give an overall prevalence of 56.77% in both species. Females and males were found to be infested with a significant variation (P < 0.05); accordingly, higher prevalence of GIT parasites was observed in female animals (61.60%) as compared to males (48.98%) between the two sexes. Young and adult animals were found to be infested with a prevalence of 69.61% and 45.32%, respectively with Significant difference (P < 0.05). Body condition scores and production system also significantly affect the outcome of GIT prevalence (Table 1).  Out of the total 219 positive cases, 136 (35.42%) were infected with one parasite eggs type and 82 (21.35%) were infected with two or more parasite eggs type. Among these, strongyle type eggs and Emeria oocyst coexist most of the time, with an overall prevalence of 69 (17.97%) followed by strongyle types and monesia 4 (1.04%).

Discussion
In the present study, the overall prevalence of GIT parasites was 56.77%. The current finding is lower than the report of  (2012) from northwest Gondar, who closed prevalence rate of 52.78%, 48.21 and 47.67% respectively. This variation may be due to management system and level of production, individual animal factors, origin, season and differences in study methods.
The study showed that higher prevalence of GIT parasite was observed in poor body condition animals as compared to medium and good body condition animals and the difference was statically significant (p<0.05). This agrees with previous reports of Welemehret et al. (2012) in Northern Ethiopia, Diriba and Birhanu (2013) in south eastern Ethiopia, Kedir and Asfew (2017) in South Eastern Ethiopia and Tesfaye et al. (2019) in Northwest Ethiopia. This might be due to either well-fed animals have good immunity for parasitic infection.
The higher prevalence of GIT parasites reported in females than in males (P<0.05). This finding agrees with the report of different researchers (Mihreteab and Aman, 2011;Bashir et al., 2012;Emiru et al. 2013). This may be due to female animals are exposed to more stress than male animals in different times such as during pregnancy and peri-parturient period as stress decreased immune status (Gauly, 2006). Olifan Fayisa et al. 376 The study was also under taken to observe the prevalence of GIT parasites in age groups and the finding revealed that young animals were highly infected when compared to that of adult animals (p<0.05). This finding was in agreement with the finding of some researcher in different parts of Ethiopia (Fikru et al., 2006;Diriba, 2013;Dilgasa et al., 2015) who reported higher prevalence in younger animals. This is due to young animals are more susceptible to parasite infection due to immunological immaturity and immunological unresponsiveness (Urquhart et al., 1996).
The study showed that higher prevalence of GIT parasite was observed in extensive production system as compared to semi intensive and intensive production system and the difference was statically significant (p<0.05). This is in agreement with different findings (Waller, 2004;Iyad, 2012;Sangama et al., 2013) who reported high prevalence rate in extensive as compared to semi-intensive and intensive production systems. The possible explanation is that animals kept under extensive production systems, there is continuous infection and re-infection from heavily contaminated pastures rendering anthelmintic treatment of limited value compared to the situation under semi intensive and intensive production systems .This could be due the fact that the animals kept under semi-intensive system and intensive production system are properly managed and routinely dewormed.
The major GIT parasite that has been observed in this study were Strongyle type of species trichuris spps, monesia spps and coccidian spps of parasites. The current prevalence of Strongyles sppswas 22.14% which is lower with reports of previous studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia (Temesgen 2008;Ragassa et al., 2006). The prevalence of coccidian parasites in the present study was 12.50% which is in line with the findings of Nuraddis et al. (2014) in and around Jimma town who reported 11.7% prevalence. Among the Cestoda, Monezia was the only observed species in the present study with prevalence of 0.26%. This difference in prevalence rate may be attributed to the difference in agro ecology and variation in management practice of anima.
The current study has shown the presence of mixed infection (polyparasitism) characterized by the presence of more than one GIT parasite in sheep and goat of the study area. This agrees with the findings of other researchers in the country (Abebe and Esayasu, 2001;Regassa et al., 2006;Tefera et al., 2010). These mixed infections have been suggested to be an important cause of morbidity and loss of production in sheep and goat (Kumsa et al., 2011). Moreover, the presence of interaction and compromization of the immune system of the host by mixed infections increase their susceptibility to other diseases or parasites (Wang et al., 2006).

Conclusion
Gastrointestinal parasites are the major animal health constraints in sheep and goat production and contributing loss in productivity and economy. In the present study an overall prevalence of GIT parasites were high with occurrence of mixed infection. The predominant GIT parasites identified were Strongyle spps, Trichuris spps, Monesia spps and Emeria species. Risk factor like ages, sex, body condition and production system were found determinant factors for the occurrence of GIT parasites. From the above findings and conclusions, strategic use of anthelmintics and good management should be practice to control the gastrointestinal parasites infection with further study on Seasonal variation and burden of parasites in the study area.