Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in Gharpala sheep of Sikkim, India

A study was carried out on the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in Gharpala sheep in alpine dry zone of Sikkim in respect of managemental conditions, age of animal and season. A total of 87 faecal samples were collected from Serathang and Gnathang valley of East Sikkim and examined during the period of February 2007 to January 2009. The overall infection rate was 20.68% either in single or mixed infection with a mean number of eggs per gram of faeces (EPG) as 1200.55. The infection rate was significantly lower (17.64%) in stall-fed animals than the animals which were managed semi-intensively (22.64%). Age-wise prevalence was 15.79%, 20.83% and 22.72% in the animals below 1 year, within 1–2 year and above 2 years of age, respectively. Highest infection rate was observed during summer season (28.57%) followed by autumn season (21.74%) and spring season (16.67%). The infection rate was significantly lower in winter season (10.53%). Thus seasonal dynamics and age of the host animals significantly influenced the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths. The prevalence of strongyle infection was highest (19.54%) followed by Strongyloides spp. (10.35%), Moniezia spp. (9.19%), Nematodirus spp. (8.05%), amphistomes (6.89%), Dicrocoelium spp. (4.6%) and Trichuris spp. (1.15%). The above findings will be helpful in devising the appropriate control strategies for gastrointestinal parasites of gharpala sheeps reared under the traditional husbandry system in alpine agroclimatic conditions in Sikkim.