The Caseous lymphadenitis Increases the Vulnerability of the Sheep Herders in Algeria (Case of the Ziban-East Province)

The pastoral sheep system in Algeria is organized on the sale, particularly to male over six months old, on the occasion of the religious festivities. For the sake of its wide emergence and enormous economic losses, Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) can put this type of animal production suffering and its sustainability may be in suspicion. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence ratio of CLA in Algeria (case of Ziban- East province). A cross-sectional epidemiological survey was undertaken (January 2021 to Mai 2021) on 33 randomly selected sheep farms conducted in extensive pastoral care. On the basis of clinical examination of 7265 sheep (1150 male and 6115 female), the farm level infection with CLA in the target area was estimated to be 87.88% [95% confidence interval (CI):71.8- 96.6 %]. The disease was significantly higher in males (7.22%) than in females (4.67%) (χ 2 test, P< 0.005). Moreover, sheep between 6 and 24 months old were significantly the more infected (14%) (F test, P< 0.01). We concluded that C. lymphadenitis infection is widely disseminated in sheep flocks in Ziban-East in Algeria and eradication programs are very necessary.