Prevalence and pathology of abomasal abnormalities in sheep in southern Iran

Abomasal abnormalities impose economic constraints on sheep production, most of which are subclinical and cannot be easily detected by routine clinical examination. In this survey, morphopathological lesions of 100 abomasa of sheep slaughtered in Fars Province, southern Iran were studied from spring to autumn of 2011. Grossly, raised pale to whitish nodular areas to irregularly thickened mucosa, different types of erosions or ulcers, phytotrichobezoars, and serosal cysts of Cysticercus tenuicollis were seen. Histopathologic examination revealed ostertagiasis (79%), erosive-ulcerative abomasitis (75%), eosinophilic abomasitis (14%), Cysticercus tenuicollis cysts on the serosal surface (9%), chronic hypertrophic abomasitis (4%), coccidiosis (3%) and submucosal granulomatous abomasitis (1%). Microscopic features of the coccidial schizonts were consistent with previous descriptions of Eimeria (Globidium) gilruthi. Based on the results, it could be concluded that ostertagiosis was the most common abnormality in the abomasum of the sheep that can cause important economical losses. In addition, abomasal coccidiosis was reported for the first time and further research is required to clarify the pathogenesis and its epidemiologic importance in sheep.