Prevalence and faecal egg counts of gastrointestinal parasites of Merino sheep in Lesotho

(GIPs) of sheep from two districts of Lesotho and ii) the effect of agro-ecological zones, host age and sex on prevalence and faecal egg loads of GIPs. It was conducted for a period of six months (July to December) in different agro-ecological zones of Maseru and Quthing districts. A total of 1, 919 faecal samples were examined over this period using McMaster Technique. Three types of GIPs (nematodes, coccidia and cestodes) were identified. Overall prevalence was found to be 53.9%, 46.5% and 4.3% of nematodes, coccidia and cestodes in Maseru district. Quthing district had 65.0%, 38.2% and 0.9% prevalence respectively for nematodes, coccidia and cestodes. Overall faecal egg counts for Maseru district ranged from 0-20,300, 0-90,000 and 0-600 eggs per gram respectively for nematodes, coccidia and cestodes. In Quthing district faecal egg count ranged from 0-8,000, 0-6,700 and 0-2,000 eggs per gram for nematodes, coccidia and cestodes respectively. Majority (over 69%) of animals in both districts had a lower faecal egg count (100-800) per gram. Agro-ecological zone affected nematode infestation in both districts. Coccidia in Quthing were higher in the mountain areas. In Maseru district, nematode infestations were not affected by age, however, in Quthing district prevalence was higher in juveniles than in adults. Age and sex did not affect the prevalence and faecal egg counts of nematodes and coccidia. The coccidian faecal egg loads were higher in females than in males.