Common diseases of sheep (Ovis aries linnaeus) and goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) in Jordan: a retrospective study (2015-2021)

Abstract

Abstract Background: Despite of major efforts that have been undertaken to improve livestock health and productivity in Jordan, diseases continue to cause dramatic economic losses. Aim: This retrospective study was conducted to report the prevalence and distribution of infectious and non-infectious diseases in sheep (Ovis aries linnaeus) and goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) according to age, sex and affected body system. Methods: Case medical records of sheep and goats presented for clinical evaluation to the Veterinary Health Center (VHC) of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Jordan University of Science and Technology between January 2015 and December 2021 were used in this study. The data were categorized based on sex (female vs male), body system involved in the disease process, nature of the disease process (infectious vs non-infectious) and age (pre-weaning [less than 2 months of age], 2 months to 1 year, and older than 1 year). Descriptive analysis was performed to report the frequencies, averages, and range values using excel spreadsheets. Results: Medical records of 190 goats and 434 sheep were included in the analysis in this study. The majority of cases were females (87.89%, and 84.10%) for goats and sheep, respectively. The age of animals ranged between 1 day and 9 years in goats and 1 day and 7 years in sheep. In goats, the majority of cases were diagnosed with reproductive/obstetrical diseases (28.42%) followed by gastrointestinal diseases (20.52%), respiratory diseases (10.52%), udder/teat diseases (11.05%), and metabolic diseases (10.00%). In sheep, the majority of cases were diagnosed with reproductive/obstetrical diseases (29.49%), followed by gastrointestinal diseases (25.11%), multiple systems (8.98%), respiratory diseases (7.60%), metabolic diseases (6.22%), udder/teat diseases (5.99%), and nervous diseases (5.06%). Conclusion: Results of this study serve as a clinical guideline for field diagnosis of common diseases in small ruminants in Jordan.