J. Vet. Sci. Vol

parts of the Greater Caucasus Mountains). The 
material for research was the feces of cows, sheep 
and buffaloes. Fecal isolates of the studied animals 
of different age and sex were collected seasonally 
in individual and farm households in Gobustan 
(2010-12) and Sheki-Zagatala region (2011-13) 
(Balakan, Gakh, Sheki, Zagatala districts) [15]. 
However, until now, the degree of infection of 
domestic ruminants with Cryptosporidia and the 
species composition of the latter in many regions 
of Azerbaijan remained unknown. 
The purpose of this research is to identify the 
degree of infection of sheep with Cryptosporidium 
in Absheron and Shamakhi districts.
Methods
The material for the research was sheep feces. 
Fecal isolates of the studied animals were collected 
in private farms of the Absheron region (2021). 
Fecal isolates were examined at the Laboratory 
of Biochemistry of Host Parasite Relations of the 
Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of 
Sciences of Azerbaijan. 
Cryptosporidium oocysts detected thin fecal 
smears fixed with methyl blue and stained with 
Carbol-Fuchsin according to Ziehl-Neelsen [12]. 
A small lump of fresh feces was applied to a glass 
slide, a thin smear was made, and it was thoroughly 
dried in air. Then it was fixed for five minutes in 
methyl alcohol, dried at room temperature and 
quickly carried out 3-5 times over the flame of the 
burner. The carbol-fuchsin solution was stained for 
20 minutes. Composition solution: basic fuchsin - 2 
g, 96% ethyl alcohol - 12 ml, phenol - 5 ml, distilled 
water up to 100 ml. Next, the smear was washed 
with tap water, discolored with water 10% sulfuric 
acid for 20-60 sec., Washed in water, washed again 
with a 5% solution of malachite green in 10% 
ethyl alcohol, washed in water and dried at room 
temperature and examined under a microscope x 
100 (with immersion). 
Data from the study were entered in Ms-Excel, 
for statistical processing the results used the 
statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics 20.
Results
In total, fecal isolates from 120 heads of sheep 
from private farms in Absheron and Shamakhi 
districts were examined for infection with 
cryptosporidia. Studied animals in the Absheron 
region showed an average degree of invasion 
by cryptosporidia in all seasons of the year. 
According to the results of studies infected sheep 
were observed more in autumn extensive invasion 
(EI) - 45.7% (35/16), in spring - 20% (30/6), 
in winter they were less -16.6% (30/5), and in 
summer -8% (25/2). Thus, of the 120 examined 
animals, oocysts of Cryptosporidium were found 
in 29 sheep, that is 24.2% (Table 1).
The intensity of invasion in all seasons in all 
animals in all the private farms we studied ranged 
from 1 to 7 oocysts, sometimes up to 8-9.
In sheep, we found round oocysts spherical in 
shape, with a diameter of 3.5±0.2 μm and 4.4 μm 
(FI = 1.04; n = 29). 

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Egypt. J. Vet. Sci.