01 Oca 2026 Perşembe
Landscape-ecological features of the distribution of Dicrocoelium lanceatum Stiles et Hassal, 1896 among livestock in the Caucasus (territory of Azerbaijan)
Abstract : In Azerbaijan, the development of animal husbandry and the production of environmentally friendly livestock products have always been a priority for the country's leadership. In the Caucasus region (territory of Azerbaijan), where animal husbandry is widely practiced, protecting small ruminants from infectious and invasive diseases, particularly helminthiases, which cause significant economic damage to their development and productivity, is of great scientific and practical importance. It is well known that helminth infections reduce productivity in all parameters, increase infertility, cause abortions, and raise mortality rates among young animals. The implementation of effective control measures against such helminthiases, the improvement of environmental and livestock farm health by eliminating these pathogens, and the acquisition of abundant and sustainable environmentally friendly products from animals require the identification of the natural and farm foci of helminth distribution, as well as the factors contributing to infection. These are among the most urgent and essential issues today. One of the main helminth species widely distributed among livestock in Azerbaijan, causing substantial economic loss to their productivity and sustainable development, is Dicrocoelium lanceatum. The study of the distribution of this helminth species across various landscape-ecological zones and seasons in the Caucasus region, where livestock breeding is highly developed, the determination of its current epizootological significance for other domestic animals, and the development of scientifically grounded preventive measures against it remain insufficiently researched. Although studies on helminths of livestock have been conducted in some regions of Azerbaijan, only limited brief data exist for the Caucasus region in this field, and until recent years, such research has not been carried out extensively. Studies encompassing the diverse physical-geographical and landscape-ecological conditions of the Caucasus are not sufficiently comprehensive, and most of the available data were recorded thirty to sixty years ago. Therefore, these data do not reflect the actual present-day situation.