Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional

BIBTEX RIS

Sustainable agriculture: the use of FAMACHA method in Santa Ines sheep in the Semi-arid region of Brazil

2021; UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE LONDRINA; Volume: 42; Issue: 3Supl1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5433/1679-0359.2021v42n3supl1p1647

1679-0359

Vinícius Longo Ribeiro Vilela, Hermano Manoel Francisco Figueiredo Bezerra, Roberto Alves Bezerra, Maysa Aparecida de Oliveira, Émerson Timóteo de Alcântara, Leonardo Vinícius Silva De Oliveira, Kaio Sá Nóbrega, Fabrício Barcelos Calazans, Thaís Ferreira Feitosa, Fábio Ribeiro Braga, Marcelo Beltrão Molento,

Parasites and Host Interactions

Sheep farming is of great importance in generating income to smallholders in semi-arid areas worldwide. Gastrointestinal helminths cause important damage to the animals with poor welfare conditions, impacting in local economies. The objective of this work was to evaluate the FAMACHA method (FMC) in a herd of 60 Santa Inês from Paraíba, Brazil, and to compare the data from previous production years. In order to determine anemic sheep, FMC chart was used in biweekly evaluations for 12 months by trained personnel. Blood and fecal samples were collected monthly to determine packed cell volume (PCV), and parasite fecal egg count (FEC), respectively. The animals were divided into: dry, pregnant and lactating ewes, lambs and rams. Haemonchus was the predominant helminth genus (94.7%) during the whole year. There were up to 97% of success on the interpretation of FMC with 90 to 100% efficacy in the treatment decision. Among the 1356 evaluations, in only 40 (3%) were required deworming, being 27 during the rainy season and 13 during the long dry season. A statistically significant correlation (P < 0.01) was observed between FEC and PCV for the dry, lactating, and pregnant categories. The data reports a 94% reduction in deworming, with a greater need for anthelmintic use in lambs and lactating ewes (P < 0.05). Our data validates the use of FMC in Santa Inês sheep, which is considered a local resilient breed in the semi-arid region of Brazil. We recommend that animals should be examined during the rainy season to prevent most of the clinical problems.