Infection frequency of gastrointestinal nematode in goats and sheep of five municipalities in Antioquia

Objective. To determine the frequency of gastrointestinal nematode infection in goat and sheep folds of some municipalities of Antioquia. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out between February and June 2011 in fecal samples of 84 goats and 11 sheep between 2 and 132 months of age in six folds in Antioquia. The number of eggs per gram of feces (epg) was determined using the McMaster technique, and the 3rd larval stage was obtained by means of Corticelli and Lai technique. For larval gender identification, gastrointestinal nematode taxonomical keys for goats and sheep were used. Tricostrongilides infection frequency and its association with epidemiological data was measured by means of chi-square test and comparison of proportions by column with Z test and U of Mann-Whitney contrast test. Results. Nematode infection frequency was 86.6% and Haemonchus contortus (66.3%), Oesophagostomum spp (38.9%), Trichostrongylus spp (34.7%) and Ostertagia spp. (24.2%) were the most prevalent nematodes. A statistically significant difference was found between infected and non-infected proportion per animal breed. Conclusions. There are differences between infection frequencies in Camuro, La mancha and Toggenburg breeds compared with other breeds in the same folds. These differences can be related with resistance and/or recovering from infection, but more research focused in mechanisms of action in goats and sheep of Antioquia is necessary.