Prevalence of Goat Warble Fly, Przhevalskiana spp. (Dipetra: Oestridae), in West Azarbaijan, Iran

Goat warble fly infestation is a subcutaneous myiasis, presents in many European and Asian countries. Between September 2004 and June 2005, Goat warble infestation was investigated in the Urmia abattoir. The number of infested animals, their sex and age, the number of maggots present on each animal, location and larval stage of warble flies were recorded. Warbles were counted, measured and isolated by squeezing the subcutaneous nodules. 867 native goats (185 males and 682 females) were examined. 113 (13%) goats were parasitized, in which 91(80.5%) were females and 22(19.5%) were males. According to the results, out of 277 and 590, ≤2 and >2 years old animals, 32 (28%) and 81 (72%) were infested to Przhevalskiana spp respectively. There was no significant difference between infestation of males and females and among two different age groups (p<0.05). During the study 699 warbles flies larvae found in the subcutaneous tissue of slaughtered animals. The minimum, maximum, and mean number larvae per animal were 1, 18 and 6.18, respectively. The counted larvae were 185 (26.5%) first instars larvae, 280 (40%) second instars larvae, and 234 (33.5%) third instars larvae. Three species of Przhevaeskiana including P.crossii (47.8%), P. aegagri (35.5%) and P. silenus (16.6%) were recognized. High degree of infestation highlights the potential risk of economic burden caused by goat warble fly in west Azarbaijan and needs further research in order to decrease the rate of infestation in goats.