Study of Cryptosporidium infection in sheep in Saveh County

Subject Areas : clinical veterinary science

mohammad hasan rabiee ¹ , alireza shaghayegh ² , shapourreza shojaei ³

1 - PhD student of epidemiology at tehran university, Graduate of Veterinary Medicine. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Karaj branch, Islamic Azad University
2 - Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad university, Karaj, Iran
3 - Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad university, Karaj, Iran

Received: 2017-01-23 Accepted : 2018-01-06 Published : 2018-08-23

Keywords: Sheep, Saveh, Cryptosporidium,

Abstract :

 Cryptosporidium is a parasite that can cause diarrhea in sheep. Disease caused by Cryptosporidium is a zoonotic disease. Given its importance, this study carried out to evaluate the Cryptosporidium infection rate in sheep in Noubaran distinct of Saveh County in 2014.  In this cross-sectional study on 266 asymptomatic sheep, fecal samples were collected and transported to the laboratory and condensed. then samples were stained using modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique and examined by the use of an optical microscope.  The prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in studied samples was 10.5%. The results indicate that the rate of infection in rams was higher than ewes, the rate of infection in less than 1 year old sheep was higher than over 1 year old ones, and the rate of infection in herds with over 100 sheep was higher than herds with less than 100 sheep. Of course, no statistically significant relation was seen between factors such as age, gender and the number of herds with disease (p>0.05) This study showed that Cryptosporidium infection in sheep in this area was noticeable. Meanwhile, as this study has been done on animals without clinical signs, asymptomatic sheep could be a potential source to spread the infection to humans and ultimately the community.