Indications of hypobiosis of Haemonchus contortus in Goats of deccan Plateau in Maharashtra

Probable hypobiosis in Haemonchus contortus in the dry season in naturally infected and later stall-fed Osmanabadi male goats is reported here. The average FECs of these bucks increased from a mean of 117.0±40.1 epg in April 2014 to 3217.0±938.9 epg in August 2014 in the absence of any exposure to worms and H. contortus was the predominant larval species. It therefore appears that there were fourth stage hypobiotic H.contortus larvae in these bucks in April which came out of dormancy due to the higher humidity and rainfall from May onwards and started producing eggs. It can therefore be concluded that worm burdens of goats should be assessed at the end of the dry season on the Deccan plateau as they are likely to rise due to hypobiotic larvae coming out of dormancy.