PREVALENCE OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM AT GOAT IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Executive Summary Goat are very popular backyard livestock for those people with limited resources where up to 60% of their income comes by rearing this small ruminant. Cryptosporidiosis, caused by Cryptosporidium, is characterized by diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, and even death. Therefore, a study was aimed to observe the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in goat in Bangladesh including their OPG count as well as to assess the risk factor, such as age, sex, breed, etc. A total of 240 intestinal content were collected from slaughtered goat from Dhaka city to detect the presence of Cryptosporidium. Examination of these samples through sedimentation technique under a light microscope revealed 65 out of 240 samples (27.08%) were infected with Cryptosporidium. In our study, males (29.20%) were infected with Cryptosporidium more than females (19.15%). Moreover, the highest prevalence (35.51%) was seen in the younger group, followed by adult (20.30%). 2 The findings of the present study revealed that seasons can play a vital role on the prevalence of infection in goat, with highest prevalence in Winter (32.50%), followed by Summer (26.25%) and Rainy season (22.50%). In addition to this, average OPG of this study over 65 samples was calculated at 266.67 where the highest OPG count was found in Winter (323.01%), followed by Summer (247.62%) and Rainy (210.53%). In conclusion, cryptosporidiosis is one of the health problems of goats in Bangladesh. Our findings confirmed that age was found to have a significant effect on the occurrence of Cryptosporidium infection. Therefore, proper management should be implemented to the control of the disease in the study area.