Epidemiological Study of Mannheimia Haemolytica Infection in the Sheep and Goats Population, India

An epidemiological study was conducted along with pathological and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of Mannheimia haemolytica in sheep and goats from three states of India, viz. Delhi, Gannavaram (Andhra Pradesh) and Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh). Different epidemiological parameters like age, sex, clinical sign and seasonal changes in a year were recorded. A total of 1350 lungs sampleswere screened and out of which 30 (2.22%) animals were found to be positive for M. haemolytica. The prevalence of infection was significant ly higher (p < 0.05) in postmortem facility, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) (8.00%) followed by Bareilly slaughterhouse (4.67%), Gannavaram (2%) and Delhi (1.00%). Age wise higher prevalence was recorded for both sheep and goats <1 year age groups followed by 1-3 and >3 years, respectively. Significantly (p < 0.01) higher infection was observed in female goats compared to male goats and both sex of sheep. Seasonally, the prevalence of M. haemolytica infection was higher in the winter season (2.65%) followed by the monsoon (1.71%) and summer (1.17%) seasons. The observations of the present study would provide the basis for further an effective explorative surveillance and epidemiological studies to know the real impact of M. Haemolytica infection in sheep and goat population of India.