Epizootiology of Gastrointestinal helminths in sheep and goats of Tamil Nadu

The epizootiological study of gastro intestinal helminths was carried out for seven years from January 2001 to December 2007 in seven agroclimatic zones of Tamil Nadu during four seasons in sheep and goats. Of the 17640 faecal samples collected from sheep and goats during the study period, 11142 samples (63.2%) were found positive for different helminthic infection. Among the various agroclimatic zones, the animals in High rainfall area had high infection (244.2+17.2 epg), followed by Northeastern region (214.1+ 21.6 epg) with least infection in Southern districts (159.1+11.8 epg). Among the various seasons, a significantly higher helminthic infection was observed during Northeast monsoon (408.7+17.4) followed by Southwest monsoon (373.1+12.8) and winter (312.9+19.6) with least infection during summer season (272.7+18.3). Irrespective of zones and seasons, sheep (67.7%) were found to harbour more infection than goats (58.7%).