Seasonal Activity of Gastro-Intestinal Nematodes in Goats in Burdur Region, Turkey

In this study, the gastro-intestinal (GI) organs of 50 goats in Burdur region, Turkey, were investigated for the prevalence of GI nematodes and the seasonal activity of the parasites was examined. All the animals examined (100%) were found to be infected with GI nematodes. Twenty-two nematode species were identified and a total of 53,759 nematodes were collected from the infected goats. The number of parasites per goat ranged from 65 to 4811 (mean 1075.18), while the number of nematode species per animal ranged from 1 to 12 (mean 6.34). The most frequently detected nematodes in the goats were Ostertagia circumcincta (78%), Marshallagia marshalli (72%), Nematodirus abnormalis (66%), Trichuris ovis (60%), N. spathiger (52%), T. skrjabini (50%) and Trichostrongylus vitrinus (40%). In this study, Parabronema skrjabini was recorded for the first time in goats in Turkey. The parasite counts in the goats increased in spring, declined in summer, reached maximum levels in autumn, and then tended to decline until winter, before increasing again in mid-winter. Species of Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus and M. marshalli were observed in all seasons of the year. The numbers of Trichostrongylus spp. peaked in spring and autumn and a small rise was observed in January. Nematodirus spp. increased in January and April, and peaked in September. Ostertagia spp. and M. marshalli counts moved in parallel, increasing in January and April. Ostertagia spp. peaked in September and M. marshalli in October.