Prevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei var.caprae in Goats of Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was conducted to examine the prevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei var. caprae in goats in and around Samina Sadat village of Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province. The data regarding the effect of age, sex and breed of the hosts on the prevalence of skin disease was also studied. A total of 300 goats (72 males and 228 females) were examined. Depending upon the age, these hosts were divided into four groups viz, 3-23 (n=128), 22-44 (n=121), 45-65 (n=40) and 66-86 (n=11) months. Out of 300 hosts examined 84 were found infested with S. scabiei var. caprae showing an overall prevalence of 28%. The prevalence of S. scabiei var caprae in female hosts was 30.26% versus 20.83% in males, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The prevalence was highest (54.54%) in age group of 66-86 months and lowest (21.09%) in age groups of 3-23 months. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Among the three breeds (Nachi, Teddy and Beetle), the highest prevalence (35.48%) was recorded in Nachi while the lowest prevalence (21.55%) was recorded in Teddy. The difference was statistically significant (P>0.05). In conclusion the sex and breed of host had significant effect on the prevalence of S. scabiei var caprae.