Morphological and molecular identification of Cyclospora species in sheep and goat at Tamil Nadu, India

A total of 281 fresh fecal samples (65 sheeps and 216 goats) were examined for the presence of Cyclospora species in Tamil Nadu from October 2017 to April 2018. All the faecal samples were examined by direct smear method, saturated sucrose floatation technique and modified Ziehl–Neelsen staining method and it was confirmed—at genus level with PCR technique. Overall prevalence of Cyclospora infection in—small ruminant was 2.14%. The prevalence of Cyclospora species in sheep and goat was 3.08 and 1.85% respectively. Cyclospora oocyst was observed mostly during winter season (Dec–Feb) with 7.14% followed by summer (March and April) and Northeast mansoon (October and November) with 1.67 and 1.66% respectively. The oocyst detected from faecal sample through conventional faecal examination was confirmed by PCR.