Besnoitiosis is an emerging disease in Tibetan sheep and yaks in Qinghai Tibetan plateau (QTP) of China. That is why a survey was conducted for the seroprevalence and detection of associated risk factors of this disease in Tibetan sheep and yaks in QTP of China. A total of 1092 and 1449 serum samples were collected from Tibetan sheep and yaks respectively and checked by employing commercial ELISA kits. The seroprevalence of besnoitiosis in Tibetan sheep was found to be 3.21% ranging from 0 to 5.6% in different counties. The male and female sheep were found positive with 3.15 and 3.25% cases respectively for this disease. A total of 16/1449 (1.10%) yaks were found to be positive for besnoitiosis ranging from 0-2.03% from different counties. In years of 2011-17, the seroprevalence has been ranged from 0-4.10%. Based on conditional stepwise logistic regression analysis, it can be speculated that the varying climatic changes in QTP region and age are the influencing risk factors in causing besnoitiosis in Tibetan sheep and yaks. The survey herein has highlighted the risk and rising potential for this parasitic disease in yaks and Tibetan sheep on the remote plateau.

To Cite This Article: Li K, Zhang L, Luo H, Mehmood K, Shahzad M and Naseer MU, 2019. Besnoitiosis: an emerging parasitic disease in yaks (bos grunniens) and tibetan sheep (ovies aries) on the qinghai tibetan plateau, China. Pak Vet J, 39(3): 447-450. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2019.086