The prevalence of helminths in sheep and goats in Tanzania

Before the start of this project, the situation on local farms concerning the prevalence of helminth infections had not been extensively studied in Tanzania or the surrounding countries. The current study will provide better insights into the degree of infection, which may lead to better treatment for the animals. This can improve the health of animals and even farmers and local people, since some parasites are zoonotic.

It is important to acquire an insight on the prevalence of helminths in small ruminants, in order to have the occurrence of the different species in Tanzania, and how abundant they are.

To achieve this, different samples were taken, such as fecal samples and intestines.

Coprological investigation revealed that 81,8 % of the small ruminants excreted helminth eggs in their feces. The prevalence of various helminth species were: strongylid type eggs (76,9%), Strongyloides spp. (18,2%), Moniezia spp. (3,8%), Trichuris spp. (0,4%) and Skrjabinema spp. (13,3%).