Hemostatic Disorders in Sheep Parasitized by Haemonchus contortus

Haemonchosis remains, to this day, the principal disease encountered in global sheep farming. It is characterized by the parasitemia of sheep with the hematophagous parasite Haemonchus contortus . The parasite causes lesions in the gastrointestinal tract of infected animals. These lesions, along with the secretion of anticoagulant factors and proteins, facilitate the parasite's feeding through the bleeding induced at these sites. The blood loss caused by the parasite leads to anemia and excessive loss of proteins such as albumin, resulting in clinical symptoms of weight loss, increased morbidity, and reduced production efficiency, which causes significant economic losses to the industry and affects the well-being of the affected animals. This study aims to demonstrate that animals infected with Haemonchus contortus develop hemostatic disorders. The results showed a statistically significant difference between experimentally parasitized sheep and parasite-free sheep. Tests conducted included Activated Coagulation Time (p = 0.0001), Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (p = 0.0045), and Prothrombin Time (p = 0.0325), all showing statistical significance (p < 0.05) between the control and experimental groups when compared using ANOVA. Additionally, significant differences were observed in hematocrit values (p < 0.0001) and platelet counts (p < 0.0001).