Body weight loss in goats experimentally infected with Schistosoma spindale and S. incognitum

Body weight loss was studied for 360 days in 10 Barbari goats of 2–3 months old where three were kept as uninfected controls and six were infected each with 2000 cercariae of Schistosoma spindale and 2000 cercariae of S. incognitum and one with 1000 and 3000 cercariae, respectively. The body weight was measured in the morning, prior feeding, at biweekly intervals with the help of a spring balance sensitive to 10 g. Three infected goats died due to schistosome infection between 124–233 DPI (day post infection), weight loss up to 46.56% from pre-infective stage. The other infected goats also showed a lower body weight gain in comparison to the controls till 240 DPI. Statistically, a significant variation (P<0.01) in body weight gain was observed between infected and non-infected goats as well as in infected goats during the course of the infection.