GASTROINTESTINAL AND RESPIRATORY PARASITISM IN GEORGIA GOATS

Over a period of 17 months (April to December 1987 and June to August 1988), gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts of 70 adult goats in Ge orgia were collected and examined for helminths and protozoa. Total wo rm counts from viscera as well as counts of nematode eggs and coccidia oocysts per gram of feces were made on each animal. All animals had n aturally occurring infection with one or more species of gastrointesti nal nematodes. Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, and Oesophagostomum were the most prevalent genera (90, 81, and 81%, respectively). Ostertagia circumcinta was recovered from 14% of the goats. Other helminths prese nt, in order of decreasing prevalence, were Strongyloides papillosus ( 43%), Trichuris ovis (40%), Moniezia spp. (7%), and Cooperia curticei and C. onchophora (1.4%). Larvae of the lungworm, Muellerius capillari s, were detected in the feces of 68% of the goats, but gross lung lesi ons were seen in only 47% of these animals. Eimeria oocysts were recov ered from feces of 94% of the goats. The high prevalence of parasites and the intensity of parasite burdens in these goats suggests the need for further investigation of parasitism and its potential effect on t he production of goats in the southeastern US.