Traditional and molecular identification of Haemonchus contortus and Eimeria spp in slaughtered sheep in Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq

Abstract

Ovine haemonchosis always a possible cause of anemia or mortality in sheep, and its need much moisture to survive and is rare in dry parts of the globe. The economic important of coccidiosis of one or more species of Eimeria that cause infections in sheep, its widely thought to infect sheep until the last three decades. These parasites leading causes of anemia in sheep in several world regions. The current study was conducted to traditionally and molecularly detect Haemonchus contortus and Eimeria spp in intestinal fecal contents of slaughtered sheep in Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq. The investigation started with collecting 170 samples of fecal contents from intestines of slaughtered sheep. The samples were exposed to microscopic examination (flotation method) and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The findings of the microscopic examination revealed the presence of H. contortus eggs in 63 (37.1%) samples and Eimeria spp oocysts in 39 (22.9%) samples of the intestinal contents. The RT-qPCR showed that H. contortus was detected in 49/63 (77.8%) samples and Eimeria spp in 18/39 (46.2%) positive microscopic samples of the intestinal contents. The present investigation displays significant Haemonchus contortus and Eimeria spp occurrences in the intestinal content samples of the examined sheep from Al-Diwaniyah city, Iraq.

Keywords

• eimeria spp
• haemonchus contortus
• enteroparasites
• sheep parasites