Prevalence and seasonal variation of trichurid worm infections of small ruminants of Mathura, India.

Despite single handily causing significant deleterious effects on the health and production of small ruminants, trichurid infections are still amongst the underreported diseases in the Indian context. The present study deals with the season wise prevalence of Trichuris sp. in small ruminants from Mathura region India. An overall prevalence of 8.73 % in sheep and 13.65 % in goats was found in the instant study. Highest prevalence were recorded in rainy season (11.03 and 16.84 %) followed by summer (8.12 and 13.06 %) and winter season (6.91 and 11.39 %) in sheep and goats, respectively. So far as age wise prevalence is concerned, young sheep and goat (<6 months of age) were found to more affected than their adult (>6 months) counterparts. Again considering the sex wise prevalence rates, female animals were found more affected than male counterparts regardless of both the species. Finally, the contributing factors, trends in variations of parasitism and comparison with available literature has been described. The study has generated some vital data about this under reported parasitic entity.