Incidence of anaplasmosis in sheep slaughtered in Sokoto Abattoir, northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Ovine anaplasmosis is a tick-borne rickettsial disease associated with huge economic losses and is widespread in tropical and subtropical areas. This study was carried out to investigate the incidence of Anaplasma infection in sheep slaughtered at Sokoto Metropolitan abattoir, Sokoto. A total of 142 randomly selected sheep were sampled by collection of 10 ml of blood from each sheep, processed, stained with Giemsa and microscopically examined for Anaplasma organism. 26 sheep were infected with a prevalence rate of 18.3% and the occurrence were more in female (20.5%) than in the male (14.8%). Varying prevalence rates were observed across the age groups with highest infection (50.0%) in the age group of 2½-3 years and no infection was of observed in sheep older than 3½years of age. The mean packed cell volume (PCV) of Anaplasma infected sheep (24.8±8.77) was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of non-infected sheep (32.7±5.01). Significant association was also observed between Anaplasma infection and presence of anaemia in sheep. In conclusion, this study showed high incidence of Anaplasma infection in slaughtered sheep at Sokoto Metropolitan Abattoir, hence strategic measures should be taken to control the vectors involve in their transmission so as to improve the production potentials of these animals and the economic well being of the owners.

Keywords: Anaplasma, Incidence, Sheep, Sokoto abattoir