Prevalence, Associated Risk Factors, and Economic Loss of Ovine Hemonchosis at Jimma Town Municipal Abattoir, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia

Hemonchosis is considered one of the most severe gastrointestinal parasitic diseases in small ruminants due to the blood feeding habits of the parasites, which results in production loss and death of the animals. A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2022 to March 2023 at the Jimma town municipal abattoir with the objectives of estimating the occurrence of ovine hemonchosis, investigating potential associated risk factors, and assessing economic loss due to the disease. A total of 374 animals were chosen by systematic random sampling over the study period, and prevalence was estimated based on coprological and postmortem examination for the presence or absence of the parasite according to standard procedures. Accordingly, among the examined sheep, 32.62% and 53.2% were positive for Haemonchus contortus by fecal and postmortem examination, respectively. When the two tests were compared using the latter as the gold standard, the results showed a moderate degree of agreement (kappa statistic=0.597). The prevalence of H. contortus was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05) with respect to agroecology and season. The highest prevalence of H. contortus was observed during the semidry season (65.62%) and began to decline gradually from the middle of the semidry season. The lowest prevalence was recorded during the dry season (41.52%). The present study did not find a statistically significant difference in prevalence across different age and sex groups (p>0.05). The annual financial loss due to abomasum rejection and carcass reduction associated with hemonchosis at the abattoir was estimated to be 358,591.58 Ethiopian birr. It was concluded that hemonchosis was prevalent in the study area, resulting in a significant loss and dictating applicable control and prevention approaches for hemonchosis.