Prevalence of Liver Fluke in Sheep and Goat Slaughtered at Abattoirs in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

A survey on the prevalence of liver fluke in sheep and goat slaughtered at abattoir in Zaria is conducted. A total of 247 animals is slaughtered and picked randomly in abattoir within Zaria which undergoes examination to determine the presence of liver fluke. The samples were examined between the periods of three month on daily basis. The bile samples of the sheep and goat were analyzed using the sedimentation method to determine the presence of liver fluke. Generally the presence of liver fluke in sheep was 11.9% in ram and 17.3% in ewe while in goat the prevalence was 5.6% in billy goat and 15.4% in nanny goat. The prevalence of the disease is low in both sheep and goat; there is also no significant difference in the prevalence of parasite with sex in sheep (0.415) same also goes to goat (0.062). It is concluded that the prevalence of liver fluke is not high in sheep and goat but high in other ruminant (cattle) which could be one of the major sources of economic losses in livestock industries. Hence, waste material which can contaminate pasture should also be properly disposed to prevent animal from getting infection during grazing.