PREVALENCE OF OVINE OESTROSIS IN PLAIN AND KANDI AREAS OF JAMMU, NORTH INDIA Taniya Saleem 1 , R. Katoch 1 , Anish Yadav, Irfan Ahmad Mir 2 *, R. Godara and Irshad Ahamed 1 1 Division of Veterinary Parasitology, 2 Division of Veterinary Microbiology Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, R.S. Pura-181102, Jammu E-mail: mirirfan441@gmail.com (*Corresponding Author) Abstract: Oestrus ovis is commonly known as sheep nasal bot fly, an obligate parasite which causes nasal-sinusal myiasis in small ruminants called as oestrosis. The parasite causes huge economic losses to the meat industry. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of the parasite in sheep heads in so far less explored areas of Jammu region. The study found a high overall prevalence rate of 99.16% indicating the poor hygienic measures and unscientific rearing of animals. On analyzing the results, the prevalence of infestation of Oestrus ovis in sheep of plain and kandi areas was found to be 98.3% and 100% respectively. When the results were analysed sex-wise, it was found the prevalence was on higher side in males (100 percent) compared to female (98.2%) animals. Further, all age group animals were equally susceptible to infestations. Keywords: Oestrus ovis, Sheep, kandi, plain, prevalence. Introduction Oestrus ovis (O. ovis) is an obligatory parasite of nasal and sinus cavities of sheep and goats causing nasal myiasis worldwide [1,2]. The adult fly is larviparous which causes great annoyance when they attack the sheep to deposit larvae [3]. They occur from spring to autumn particularly in summer but they are active even in winter. The larvae cause a mechanical and traumatic damage to the nasal mucosa which results in inflammation and secondary infection. Nasal myiasis is characterized by purulent nasal discharge, sneezing, incordination and dyspnoea. These larvae sometimes enter into the cerebral cavities, turbinate bones or branch of frontal sinuses leading to ‘false gid’ and animals show signs of incoordination and high stepping gait [4]. O. ovis is having medical and public health importance, causes ocular-myiasis in shepherds and farmers if the incidental host is man [5-7]. The infestation with larvae of O. ovis is responsible for weight and production losses leading to significant loss to meat industry. In International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O) and Technology, Vol. 6, No 2, 2017, 1117 – 1122 2277-663X (P) Received Feb 8, 2017 * Published Apr 2, 2017 * www.ijset.net