Prevalence and Identification of Haemoparasites of Small Ruminants Slaughtered in Gwagwalada Abattoir, Abuja, Nigeria

Small ruminant production is important to the Nigerian economy, but haemoparasites constantly undermine it due to host, pathogen, and vector overlap. This study aimed to determine th e prevalence of haemoparasites in small ruminants slaughtered in Gwagwalada abattoir. Blood samples of 245 (107 sheep and 138 goats) were collected aseptically from the jugular vein at the point of slaughter between March and April 2021. Microscopy of a thin blood smear using Giemsa stain was carried out for parasite identification. Results showed an overall prevalence of 23.7% (58/245). Four haemoparasites genera; Anaplasma sp., Theileria sp., Babesia sp. and Trypanosoma sp. were identified with the prevalence of 11.0%, 9.8%, 2.4% and 0.4% respectively. Infection rate showed 27.1% (29/107) for sheep and 21.0% (29/138) for goats respectively. Prevalence of infection about sex showed 20.0% for females and 18.8% for males in sheep while 22.2% for males and 19.3% for females in goats. Prevalence of infection about breed revealed 39.2%, 17.4% and 10.0%, for Balami, Yankasa and Uda breeds of sheep respectively as compared to 19.0%, 26.7% and 14.3% prevalence for West African Dwarf (WAD), Kano brown and Sahel breeds of goats respectively. This study revealed a relatively high prevalence of haemoparasites in sheep and goats slaughtered in the Gwagwalada abattoir however, infection was less profound in goats as compared to sheep and more in females as compared to males. Routine prophylaxis treatment against the infection and an integrated vector control programme are recommended to mitigate the menace and enhance productivity.