Prevalence of Ectoparasites of Goats in Yola North and Yola South Local Government Areas of Adamawa State, Nigeria
1Qadeer, M.A., 1Akinbola, C, & 2Bobbo, A. A.
1Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences MAUTECH, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria
2Department of Animal Health College of Agriculture, Jalingo, Taraba state, Nigeria
Email: maqadeeri@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Goats and sheep farming is one of the main animal husbandry activities in Northern and Eastern Nigeria.
These animals are reared for meat, milk and ritual sacrifices. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) goats were examined to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite infestation in the study area. The sampled animals were
prenumbered for clarity and examination for ectoparasites was done one after the other with plastic brush, forceps and hand lens. The predilection sites were mostly; ears, neck, back, limb and dorsal floor. Sixty-nine
(69) goats were infested by one or more ectoparasites with overall prevalence of 46% and the different ectoparasites identified were Ticks, 142 (58.20%), Lice, 49 (20.08%), Fleas, 33 (13.52%), and Mites, 20 (8.20%)
respectively which were found to be common among the studied animals. the analysis showed as if there was statistically significant difference (P<0.05) in the prevalence of tick with age of small ruminants while it was
relatively higher in adults (58.20%) than younger animals (37.5%). In the sex related ectoparasite infestation, the females’ goats had the highest infestation of 72.58% as against 27.27% in males. The highest prevalence of
ectoparasites were recorded in July which has the prevalence rates of 77.27% while the least infestations were recorded in March with the prevalence rates of 17.14% respectively. In conclusion, Results revealed that goats in the study area were found to be infested with several species of ectoparasites which demands immediate control program and more intensive epidemiological study at the studied area
Keywords: Ectoparasite, Goat, Sheep, Ticks
