Age specific prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma bovis infection in Sudanese Desert sheep in the White Nile Province.
A survey of ovine schistosomiasis was carried out in a Schistosoma bovis enzootic area in the central Sudan. Three hundred Desert sheep, representing different age groups, were screened for infection, using Pitchford's faecal egg counting technique. No infection was detected in animals under one year old, but from the age of 18 months onward, the prevalence increased progressively from around 20 per cent to 60 per cent in six-year-old sheep, and this was accompanied by an increase in infection intensity, as determined by faecal egg counts. These findings, which suggest that these sheep did not develop an effective resistance to schistosomiasis, contrasted with those previously recorded in cattle from the same locality, studied in the same year.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count / Q000662:veterinary; D012552:Schistosomiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D013397:Sudan