Studies on prevalence of helminth infection in small ruminants in Udaipur District (Rajasthan)

Small ruminant farming is an important source of livelihood for upliftment of economy of India in general and Rajasthan in particular. A study on prevalence of helminths of sheep and goat in relation to age, sex, seasonal, tehsil and month wise was studied at Udaipur district, Rajasthan from May 2016 to January 2017 by faecal examination. Out of 900 faecal samples, 510 samples were examined of which 410 (80.39%) in sheep and 390 samples examined in which 296 (75.89%) in goat were positive for one or more species of helminth parasites. Overall helminth prevalence was 78.44% across the 900 animals, Strongyles sp. were most prevalent (34.56%), followed by Amphistome sp. (22.80%), Trichuris sp. (15.86%), Fasciola sp. (7.64%), Moniezia sp. (2.97%) and Strongyloides sp. (0.56%). Mixed infection were (15.58%) in sheep and goat total. In sheep, seasonal analysis revealed highest prevalence in rainy season followed by summer and lowest in winter. Tehsil wise prevalence showed highest prevalence in Vallabhnagar tehsil in sheep. Sex wise observations showed females were more infected with helminth infection than the males in sheep respectively. The age wise prevalence of helminths infection reported highest prevalence in age group more than 2 years followed by 1-2 year group and group 6 month to 1 year in sheep. Month wise helminth infection showed higher prevalence in September Month in sheep.