High Mortality Rate due to False Gid in a Sheep Herd

Abstract

The sheep nasal bot, Oestrus ovis (Diptera: Oestridae), is a cosmopolitan parasite commonly found in sheep and occasionally goats. Rarely a bot will migrate into the sheep brain (false gid). Following the complaint of an animal husbandman about high mortality rate in a sheep herd, the herd was clinically, hematologically, and pathologically examined exactly. Clinical, hematological, and pathological findings were described in the text. Necropsy findings showed heavy infestation with Oestrus ovis larvae. The herd was treated with Ivermectin. After treatment all patients without nervous sings were recovered. Patients with nervous signs did not respond to treatment, but new cases of disease did not occur and the mortality stopped. In the present report, a high mortality rate due to false gid in a sheep herd was described. The prevention and control of the disease are important because of economic losses and the possibility of transmission to the human.