5 THE PREVALENCE OF FASCIOLA HEPATICA IN GOATS AROUND MULTAN

Faecal Samples of 80 goats belonging to Nachi and Teddy breeds were collected bimonthly from areas around Multan, Pakistan. The overall prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in goats and relationship between body weight, age, breed of the host and also effect of parasite on the litter size of the host were studied. The overall prevalence of F. hepatica was 28.75%. Infection of parasite was more prevalent in Teddy than in Nachi goats (42.10 VS 16.67%; P<0.05). Moreover, highest prevalence (39.13%) was observed in weight group of 16-30 kg and lowest (13.33%) in weight group of>45 kg, the difference was significant (p<0.05). Results regarding the relationship between different age groups of goats and F. hepatica showed that highest prevalence (35.71%) of parasite was observed in age group of 13-24 months and it was lowest (18.18%) in age group of>36 months. The prevalence was significantly different (P<0.05) in different age groups. It was concluded that the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica in goats was significantly affected by the breed age, and body weight of the animal. However, it had no effects on the litter size