Serological and coprological comparison for rapid diagnosis of Fasciola hepatica infection in small ruminants from sub-tropical area of Pakistan

The objective of present study was to determine the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica infection in small ruminants by using indirect ELISA and sedimentation techniques and made a comparison between both techniques for rapid diagnosis. A total of 1200 serum and fecal samples from 612 sheep and 588 goats were analyzed for IgG antibodies and fecal egg count. Other parameters such as breed, age and sex were also taken into consideration. The results showed that the infection was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in sheep as compared to goats. In sheep, a prevalence of 39.2% was found using the indirect ELISA and 28.43% for the fecal analysis, while in goat the prevalence was 4.08% and 5.01%, respectively. The results showed that there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in prevalence between breeds of sheep and goats. The results also indicated that in goat there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in prevalence between age and sex groups. After contrasting data from ELISA and fecal analysis, 5.5% of the sera analyzed had positive values of indirect-ELISA and negative by fecal analysis. In conclusion, the findings suggest that indirect ELISA may be an efficient technique for early diagnosis of infection compared to coprological examination. The combination of both techniques was very helpful for demonstrating the current status of F. hepatica infection, and can be recommended for epidemiological surveys and for anthelmintics treatment to minimize the major health hazard affecting the production potential of small ruminants.