Prevalence of Ovine Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Meskan District, Gurage Zone, Southern Ethioipa

A cross sectional study was conducted with the objectives of determining the prevalence and risk factors associated with ovine major gastrointestinal nematodes in Meskan district, Gurage zone from November 2014 to April 2015. A fresh faecal sample of approximately 10 g was collected directly from the rectum of 350 sheep by using gloved fingers. All statistical analysis was performed using statistical software packages for social science (SPSS) version 20. From the total 350 local sheep breed examined, 212 (60.6%) were found infected with different types of gastro-intestinal nematodes. Strongyles were the most frequently 95 (27.1%) recovered nematode eggs followed by Strongyloides 38 (10.9%), Trichuris species 13 (3.7%) and Ascaris spps 2 (0.6%). There was significant association (p < 0.05) between the gastrointestinal nematode infection and animals with different age and sex group. However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in prevalence between body condition and different study sites of the subject area. Due to its important health problem and impact on production in the study area, emphasis should be given for the control and prevention of gastrointestinal nematode infection with further studies on genus and species identification by using further laboratory techniques. Keywords: Nematode, Meskan distric, Gastrointestinal nematode, Prevalence, Shee