EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CYRPTOSPORIDIUM IN APPARENTLY HEALTHY SHEEP IN SOUTHERN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN
N. U. Khan1,8, M. H. Saleem1, A. Z. Durrani1, N. Ahmad2, A. Hassan1, M. Shafee3, I. U. Khan4, M. A. Khan1, S. Zaman5,
A. U. Khan6, N. Ullah1, A. Razzaq7 and M. L. Sohail1,9
1Department of Clinical Medicine And Surgery, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
2Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
3Centre For Advanced Studies In Vaccinology And Biotechnology, University Of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan.
4Department of Livestock Management, Animal Breeding and Genetics, The University Of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan; 5Department of Microbiology, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
6Department of Livestock and Dairy Development, The University Of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan.
7Department of Veterinary Anatomy And Histology, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan.
8University College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandary, Abdual Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan.
9Department of Medicine, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Corresponding Author e-mail: vet.luqman@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Cryptosporidium is a prevalent enteric zoonotic parasite of domestic and wild animals, reptiles, birds and fish. This study was conducted to find out the prevalence and risk factors associated with the Cryptosporidium in apparently healthy sheep (Ovis aries), in three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. From January 2016 to December 2016, 1080 fecal samples were screened for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts through microscopy of smears stained by modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Results showed an overall prevalence of 17.96% (194/1080). The highest prevalence was recorded in Kohat (19.72%), followed by Bannu (18.61%) and Lakki Marwat (15.15%). Season-wise prevalence showed significant difference (P≤0.05) among different seasons, with highest prevalence during summer (25%), followed by spring (19.44%), autumn (17.72%) and the winter (10.55%). Statistical analysis revealed significant difference (P≤0.05) among sheep of different age groups with highest prevalence in newborns to ≤1 years of age (22.38%), followed by those of 1-2 years of age (18.03%) and more than 2 years of age (13.46%). Non-significant higher prevalence was recorded in females (18.80%) than males (17.02%). This debut study of Cryptosporidium in sheep will help designing disease control measures, as asymptomatic sheep is the key source of infection transmission to humans.
Key words: Asymptomatic, Cryptosporidium, Epidemiology, Pakistan, Sheep.
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