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Studies on the incidence of Dictyocaulus filaria in sheep of Rimouski Region.

THE SHEEP LUNGWORM Dictyocaulus filaria is of a world-wide distribution and may be the cause of a severe parasitic bronchitis resulting in loss of weight and deaths of animals (3, 5, 17). Walley (16) and Thomas et al (15) have all concluded that D. filaria in sheep in Great Britain may assume economic significance as a contributory cause of unthriftiness and deaths. In fact, in Europe D. filaria is one of the most economically important parasitic diseases of sheep (1, 6, 8, 9). A review of the literature of diseases caused by the lungworms of sheep is presented by Poynter and Selway (10). The published information of the infections of sheep with Dictyocaulus in Canada is rather limited, however. Swales (13, 14) has reviewed the early reports on the occcurrence of D. filaria in sheep. Subsequently, O'Donoghue (7) reported that this lungworm was the contributory cause of an outbreak of severe coughing and emaciation followed by deaths in a flock of sheep in Alberta. While D. filaria might thus be responsible for parasitic bronchitis and emaciation of sheep in various parts of Canada (2, 7), it would appear that there is virtually no published information on the incidence of these infections. In the Province of Quebec, some 48% of the sheep population is in the Rimouski region, and the farmers and field veterinarians contend that manifestations of severe clinical parasitic bronchitis in sheep are seen in greater frequency than is believed. Therefore as part of an epidemiological study of D. filaria infections of sheep of that region, observations were made on the incidence of these infections. The principal aim of the present investigation was to determine the seasonal incidence of D. filaiia in adult sheep and lambs under field conditions.