This short communication reports the prevalence of visceral schistosomiasis by worm counts from the mesentery of domestic ruminants of the hilly district of Wayanad, located in Kerala, one of the states in South India. We found 57.3, 50, and 4.7% of cattle, buffaloes and goats, respectively, had visceral schistosomiasis upon slaughter at a municipal slaughter house in Kalpetta. Our findings show that the prevalence of Schistosoma spindale infection is very high in Wayanad in comparison to previous reports from this and neighboring countries. endemic for cattle schistosomiasis in Africa and Asia while at least 165 million cattle are infected with schistosomes worldwide (De Bont and Vercruysse, 1997). Although little or no overt clinical signs may be seen over a short period, frequent chronic schistosome infections, in the long term, cause significant losses to the herd.

Routine diagnosis of visceral schistosomiasis relies heavily on observation of clinical symptoms and fecal examination for eggs of the parasite. These methods grossly underestimate the prevalence and thus interfere with treatment and control strategies. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of visceral schistosomiasis by worm counts from the mesentery among domestic ruminants of the hilly district of Wayanad, located in Kerala, one of the states in South India.