Mebratu Asaye and Tewodros Alemneh
cross-sectional study was carried out from October 2009 to March 2010 in and around Bahir Dar to determine the prevalence, identify the parasite species of lungworms in small ruminants by coprological and postmortem examinations, and to assess some of the determinant factors involved in the study area. Fecal and postmortem examinations were conducted in 534 (384 sheep and 150 goats) and 120 animals, respectively. An overall prevalence of 22.7% and 59.17% was observed by fecal and postmortem examinations, respectively. Dictyocaulus filaria was found the most prevalent species in the study area accounting 54.55% of the total positives. There was a significant difference (χ2=4.296, p<0.05) in the prevalence of lungworms between species of animals. The highest prevalence was observed in goats (28.7%) compared to the prevalence in sheep (20.3%). The infection rate between male and female animals also showed significant difference (χ2=17.645, p<0.05) with prevalence of 13.4% and 28.9%, respectively. Regarding to age, the highest prevalence (29.5%) was observed in young animals of less than a year of age while the lowest prevalence (13.9%) observed in animals of above three years of age. The difference between the prevalence among the different age groups was statistically significant (χ2=13.540, p<0.05). Different prevalence was observed between poor (33.8%) and good (19.1%) body conditioned animals, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2=4.259, p<0.05). Highest infection prevalence was observed in November and the lowest in February; however, it did not follow the climatic changes of the year between months. Due to its impact on production, emphasis should be given for the control and prevention of lungworm infection in the study area.
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