Prevalence of ovine babesiosis in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Abstract

Examination of two hundred Giemsa stained thin capillary blood films of sheep, in this study revealed a prevalence of 15 (7.5%) for Babesia ovis, of which the breeds of Yankasa, Ouda, and Koraji had infection rates of 6 (40%), 4 (26.7%), and 5 (33.3%) (p>0.05). Female and male sheep had infection rates of 8 (53.3%) and 7 (46.7%) respectively (p>0.05); while young and adult sheep had infection rates of 5 (33.3%) and 10 (66.7%) respectively (p<0.05). The packed cell volume indicated that infected Yankasa had 17.5 ± 4.1, Ouda (16.0 ± 5.7), and Koraji (18.5 ± 7.8); male (18 ± 5.7), female (20.5 ± 6.4); young (20.0 ± 9.9) and adults (16.5 ± 8.5) which were significantly lower (p<0.05) than those of non-infected sheep and indicative of anaemia.