Abstract

A retrospective study was conducted to determine temporal distribution of clinical diseases of farm animals presented to Gondar University Veterinary Clinic during the years 2007 to 2009. Of the total 1966 clinical cases, septicemia, parasitic cases, pneumonia, reproductive tract problems, metabolic disorders, wound, clinical mastitis and dermatitis were frequent cases and contributed 33.2, 22.4, 15.7, 5, 4.2, 4.1, 3 and 2.6% of the total cases, respectively. Highest and lowest number of cases were registered in the years 2009 (38.9%) and 2007 (27.8%), and during winter (27%) and spring (23.3%) seasons, respectively. Septicemia, parasitic cases/diseases, and pneumonia were the most frequent cases observed. The highest number of cases of septicemia, 208 of 653 (31.9%), was observed in summer, being peak in June. The highest number of parasitic (126 of 440) and pneumonia (117 of 312) cases was observed in winter, being peak in February. Occurrence of the common diseases follow relatively similar pattern of temporal distribution in sheep and cattle. Generally, lowest peaks of clinical diseases were observed during the months of November and December. The study indicated that occurrence of clinical cases had been affected by temporal factor. Therefore, animal owners and animal health service providers should give more emphasis for winter and summer months to prevent occurrence of clinical diseases in their animals in the study area.

Key words: Cattle, Gondar, parasite, pneumonia, septicemia, sheep.