Infection intensity of gastrointestinal nematodosis and coccidiosis of sheep raised under three types of feeding and management regims in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China

By using faecal egg counting, larvae culturing, coccidian oocysts identifying, the present study was conducted to determine infection intensity of nematodosis and coccidosis of young sheep (6–12 months) raised under three types of feeding and management regims namely, confinement system (2 farms, n = 30), semiconfinement system (2 farms, n = 30) and grazing system (2 farms, n = 30) in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR) in China. The mean egg counts of gastrointestinal nematodes were zero in confinement system, 63 EPG in semiconfinement system and 263 EPG in grazing system, while the mean coccidian oocyst counts (oocysts per gram of faeces, OPG) of each regim were 3784, 1713 and 687, respectively. Gastrointestinal parasite loads of sheep were attributed to low EPG (zero EPG) in confinement, moderate EPG in semiconfinement and high EPG in grazing regim, respectively, which in turn resulted in high OPG in confinement, moderate OPG in semiconfinement and low OPG in grazing regim, respectively. The infection rate of nematodes of sheep was zero in confinement, 43.33% in semiconfinement and 96.67% in grazing regim, while the infection rate of coccidia was 100%, 96.67% and 86.67%, respectively. The nematodes of sheep in grazing regim were, in the order of prevalence: Ostertagia (Teladorsagia) (80.00%), Marshallagia (66.67%), Nematodirus (63.33%), Trichostrongylus (43.33%), Haemonchus contortus (43.33%), and Chabertia (16.67%), while in semiconfinement regim were, in the same order of prevalence: 43.33%, 10.00%, 40.00%, 20%, 20% and 0%, respectively. Seven species of Eimeria were recognized in the three management regims. Their prevalence rates were E. parva (85.56%), E. ahsata (70.00%), E. ovinoidalis (34.44%), E. intricata (21.11%), E. crandallis (20.00%), E. granulosa (18.89%), and E. faurei (5.56%). These results may provide a further understanding of the factors associated with parasite epizootiology under different feeding and management regims.