Cross sectional survey of mange in traditional goats in Gwembe district, Zambia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2013 to March 2014 in all the nine veterinary camps in Gwembe district, Zambia in order to evaluate goat keepers‟ knowledge, attitude and practices in relation to mange using a structured questionnaire and to determine its prevalence in animals through clinical examination. The study involved 1638 goats in 125 randomly selected flocks. It was found that diseases and scarcity of feed and water were the major constraints and most farmers (90.4%) indicated mange as an important health constraint. Clinical examination revealed mange in 37.6% of the flocks. Skin scrapings from animals with clinical evidence of mange revealed the presence of mites in 8.7% of the animals. Sarcoptes scabiei was the most (96.0%) recovered mange mite from clinically affected animals, others were Psoroptes (2.0%) and Demodex (2.0%) species. Female goats (p < 0.05) and animals with poor body condition (p < 0.05) were positively associated with mange than males and those with good condition. No association was demonstrated between mange and age (p > 0.05). This study shows that sarcoptic mange constitutes an important health constraint in goat flocks in Gwembe district and that its control is essential in order to enhance the animals‟ contribution to the livelihood of the resource poor farmers.

Key words: Mange mite, Goats, Gwembe district