ATHESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY.

Abstract

Schistosomiasis and fascioliasis are neglected tropical disease (NTD) of humans and animals caused by the trematode parasite of genus schistosome and fasciola respectively. The aim of this study was to estimate seasonal prevalence of schistosomiasis and fascioliasis of domestic ruminants in selected districts of Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia. The study also explored the association between infection occurrence and intensity and hypothesized factors. A season based cross-sectional study design was used to screen infected domestic ruminants and enumerate intensity of infection by coproscopic examinations of three selected districts of the study area. Besides, post mortem inspection was conducted on slaughtered animals in local slaughter slabs and municipal abattoirs through systematic random sampling to examine adult worms. Formalin-ethyl-acetate concentration sedimentation digestion (FEA-SD) technique was employed for screening and counting trematodes eggs from 818 domestic ruminants (371,216 and 231) domestic ruminants were sampled from the districts of Arbaminch Zuria, Geresse and Chencha, respectively and 690 slaughtered domestic ruminants (344 cattle, 191 sheep and 155 goats) were sampled. Overall, of the diagnosed ruminants (n=818), 35%, 40% and 7% had schistosomiasis, fascioliasis and mixed infections respectively by coproscopy. Out of 690 slaughtered animals, approximately 14.34% were found to harbor fasciola, 8.84% were infected with schistosomes, and 2.02% had a mixed infection both disease adult flukes via post mortem inspection. Schistosoma and fasciola infection were more prevalent in Chencha compared to Geresse and Arbaminch zuriya. S.haematobium eggs in cattle were detected only in Arbaminch zuria, but not in other areas. Goats showed lower infection rates of fasciola and schistosoma in comparison to cattle and sheep. There were notable correlations identified between schistosomiasis and its risk factors, which included district, age, body condition score (BCS), and anthelminthic history. Significant associations were observed between fascioliasis with its risk factors including district season, sex and anthelminthic history. The ruminant schistosomiasis and fascioliasis average faecal egg count per gram of faeces (EPG) and related risk factors, including species, season, sex, age, and anthelmintic history. The only species with notable variation in ruminant fascioliasis and others are those with negligible variation in both. Further study is required to explore the application of various diagnostic methods and in order to uncover any subtle variations for both intensity and burden of schistosomiasis and fascioliasis.