Prevalence of Fasciola species in ruminants under extensive management system in Ibadan southwestern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Fasciolosis is a zoonotic trematode of ruminants and a common parasite in cattle in Nigeria. With the increasing numbers of small household cattle herds kept under extensive management system as well as the more usual small ruminants, there is a possibility therefore that parasites common to these ruminants but better adapted to cattle such as Fasciola may also be on the increase within the small ruminant population as they graze freely over the same wide area and sometimes freely mix. AIM: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of Fasciola spp in sheep, goats and cattle in Ibadan during the short wet season, (August-October 2011). METHODS: Faecal samples were collected per rectum from 440 each of goats and sheep and 291 cattle. Helminth ova were recovered using sedimentation technique for faecal examination. RESULTS: A total of 40 goats (9.1%), 53 sheep (12.0%) and 158 cattle (54.3%) were positive for Fasciola ova which reflects an increase in prevalence in small ruminants. CONCLUSION: This implies that the entire Ibadan is endemic for Fasciola spp and small ruminants may serve as an important link in the epidemiology of Fasciola spp infection. More so, this has implications for the scavenging household animals which receive little or no medical attention and man that may acquire this trematode by inadvertently eating vegetables with encysted Fasciola metacercariae.