Dry areas: an example of seasonal evolution of helminth infection of sheep and goats in southern Mauritania.

A total of 647 faecal egg counts and 53 necropsies were performed on sheep and goats originating from three sites of a Sahelian region of Mauritania (Gorgol) over a period of 2 years (1990-1992). Haemonchus contortus, Oesophagostomum columbianum and Stilesia globipunctata were the most prevalent species. The seasonal pattern was characterized by long survival of adults and high percentages of arrested fourth-stage larvae in the dry season, suggesting that two different strategies were used to survive from one rainy season to the next. Sheep and goats were equally infected, except for Stilesia globipunctata, which was found more often in sheep. The influence of age was limited, although kids and lambs born in the beginning of the dry season did not become infected until their first grazing in the rainy season.