Full Text: 1 Introduction The goat (Capra hircus L.) is one of the most important species of livestock especially in tropical and sub-tropical areas (Di Cerbo et al., 2010).   In Egypt, the rearing of goats is more interesting because of its ability to adapt in unfavorable conditions and to take a little of vegetable matter and convert it into meat, fat and milk especially Baladi breed for meat production and the Nabi one (or Zaraibi) for milk production (Aboul-Naga et al., 2012). The gastrointestinal (GIT) helminthes and enteric protozoan parasites infection is very common in goats (Nwigwe et al., 2013). Some of the common goat internal parasites are coccidia (protozoa), nematodes (roundworms), cestodes (tapeworms), and trematodes (flukes) (Bagley, 1997). The main route of infection is through the ingestion of the infective stage in contaminated water or food or in the intermediate host (Zainalabidin et al. 2015).The gastrointestinal helminthes which commonly found in goats include Strongyle species, Strongyloides species, Trichuris species, and Moniezia species (Solomon-Wisdom et al., 2014). According to Majeed et al. (2015) Eimeria species is the most common and prevalent enteric protozoa of goats in Egypt and all over the world. Infections of gastrointestinal helminthes and enteric protozoan parasites among goats represented a significant problem among small ruminants producers as well as the livestock industry due to their effect on the productivity and health status of animals and the consequent enormous economic losses (Waller & Thamsborg, 2004; Majeed et al., 2015). Furthermore, helminthiasis was reported as the most common cause of mortalities in goats, after pneumonia (Shahrom & Zamri-Saad, 2012). The prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in goats is associated with various environmental and host related factors. The environmental factors include temperature, quantity and quality of pasture, humidity and grazing behavior of the goat (Qayyum, 1993). The host species, sex of animal, age, body condition and breed/genotype are considered as risk factors associated with the host (Badaso & Addis, 2015). However gastrointestinal parasitic infections development is related to species of the parasite and initial worm population intensity (Tariq et al., 2008). In Egypt, there are many studies which have been conducted for evaluating the endoparasitic infections and their prevalence between goats at different localities (Soliman & Zalat, 2003; Arafa & Fouad, 2008; El-Shahawy, 2016;Elmadawy & Diab, 2017; Mohamaden et al., 2018;  Hassan et al., 2019).Therefore, the primary aim of the present study to conduct a survey to examine and identify gastrointestinal parasites in goats in Sharkia Governorate and to document a baseline data about the most prevalent ones. Further, study also detect, record and compare between the related risk factors affecting the prevalence level of such parasites. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Sample collection Fecal samples were collected from the goats (n=150) clinical cases coming to Veterinary hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. The samples collection were carried out for six months from August 2019 to February 2020. About 5-10 grams of feces/goat were collected directly from rectum using disposal sterile gloves and kept in a separate plastic bag, tied carefully and numbered properly. Collected samples were directly sent to the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University for investigation. The study protocol was approved by the Committee of Animal Welfare and Research Ethics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Egypt. 2.2 Risk factors Age, sex, body condition and rearing system for each sample were recorded. According to age, goats were divided into three groups, namely, kids (≤ 1year), young (> 1-2 years) and adult (> 2 years). Age was detected by asking owners or dentition (Rahman & Hossain, 1997). The goats were grouped into two groups, namely, poor health and healthy corresponding to eye observation and the body conditions (Rahman & Hossain, 1997). The rearing systems of the examined goats were divided into extensive and semi intensive system. 2.3 Parasitological examination The protocol for fecal examination was performed by three steps (MAFF, 1979; Cheesbrough, 1998) viz., 2.3.1 Visual or macroscopic examination color, consistency, presence of mucus or blood and macroscopic parasites were recorded 2.3.2 Microscopic examination by direct wet smear Fecal sample (match head size) was taken on clean glass slide and mixed with a drop of water, covered with a cover slip and directly examined under the microscope (at × 10 and × 40 objectives).  2.3.3 Microscopic examination using concentration techniques 2.3.3.1 Concentration Flotation technique The saturated sodium chloride flotation was the technique that has been used in this study. One gram of feces was put in a flat bottomed tube filled with one quarter of saturated solution of sodium chloride (NaCl). These components were mixed well and the tube was filled with saturated NaCl solution and properly mixed. Straining of the fecal suspension was made to remove large fecal particles. The tube was placed straight up on a table and then the saturated NaCl solution was put until the water surface reached the top then was left for 20 minutes. Glass slide was touched on the water surface carefully, then covered with cover slip and the slide was examined using the 10 x objective. 2.3.3.2 Concentration sedimentation technique Centrifugation sedimentation technique was also performed for fecal samples examination. One gram of fecal specimen was emulsified in 10 parts of tap water and it was strained through a sieve. The filtrate was collected in a Wassermann tube and centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 10 minutes. The supernatant was poured off and the sediment was re-suspended in water. This step was repeated till the supernatant became clear. One drop was taken from the sediment on a clean glass slide and covered with cover slip then examined microscopically under low power objective (×10). 2.4 Eggs or oocyts identification Identification of parasite eggs or oocyts was relied on their morphological characteristics as reported by Soulsby (1982), Rahman et al. (1996), Urquhart et al. (1996) at 10× and 40× magnifications. 3 Results and Discussion Investigation of gastrointestinal parasites of goats is important to establish information regarding the parasite species present in goats in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Among the studied 150 fecal samples, 102 goats (68%) were infected with gastrointestinal parasites (Table 1). Sutar et al. (2010) in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra and Osakwe & Anyigor (2007) in Nigeria recorded nearly similar results; 62.75% and 65.5% respectively. This percent was higher than that observed by Nasrullah et al. (2014) in Sulaimani province, Iraq (44.9%) and Velusamy et al. (2015) in Tamil Nadu, India (35%). While, it was lower than that mentioned by Arafa & Fouad (2008) in Assiut Governorate, Egypt (91.7%), Zainalabidin et al. (2015) in Perak, Malaysia (86.86%), Hashim & Yusof (2016) in Terengganu (97.6%) and Hassan et al. (2019) in Giza Governorate, Egypt (89.33%).The variations in the results might be because of difference in the geographical locations, management system and climatic factors which affect the development of the parasites and survival of eggs and larval stages in the pasture (Kusiluka & Kambarage, 1996;Radostits et al., 2000). The detected parasites in this work were Eimeria species oocysts (53.3%), eggs of Strongyles type (44%), Trichuris species (26.7%), Skrjabinema ovis (6.7%), Moniezia species (21.3%) and Fasciola species (13.3%). Eimeria species oocysts and Strongyles type eggs were the most prevalent species identified in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt (Table 2 and Figure 1). The similar results were reported by Gadahi et al. (2009) in Pakistan, Zvinorova et al. (2016) in Zimbabwe, Velusamy et al. (2015) in Tamil Nadu, India, Arafa & Fouad (2008) in Assiut Governorate, Egypt and Hassan et al. (2019) in Giza Governorate, Egypt who reported that Eimeria species and Strongyles infections were the most predominant parasites.  This survey revealed that the infection of goats in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt with nematode eggs were higher than cestode and trematode. It agreed with that recorded by Amadi et al. (2012) in Umuariaga in Ikwuano L.G.A, Abia state, Kumsa et al. (2011) in Eithiopia and Zvinorova et al. (2016) in Zimbabwe. This might be due to the direct life cycle of nematode and the infection occurred through ingestion of the infective stages (3^rd stage larvae or eggs) during grazing, in contrast to that occurred in trematode and cestode which their life cycle requires the intermediate host. For example, Fasciola species geographic distribution was dependent on the distribution of suitable species of snails (Lymnaea species) and Moniezia species was transmitted through the ingestion of cysticercoid in oribatid mites (free living mites on herbage and grass) (Hansen & Perry, 1994). Youssef & Uga (2014) and Hassan et al. (2019) also suggested that the low prevalence of liver fluke could be due to the proper and the progressive application of control program against fasciolosis in Egypt. The predominance of Eimeria species infection in goats because of their low immune system according to Gorski et al. (2004) and Minnat (2014) in addition to the cleanliness level Khor et al. (2018).  Age related gastrointestinal parasites prevalence was shown in table 1 and 3. Infection in kids (≤1 year) is higher (86%) than young (>1 to 2 years) (70.2%) followed by adult (>2 years) (50%). These results were in agreement with Osakwe & Anyigor (2007) in Nigeria, Arafa & Fouad (2008) in Assiut Governorate, Egypt and Minnat (2014) in Diyala Province, Iraq. These findings might be attributed to the less developed immunity in kids while adults can acquire immunity against GIT parasites and also the resistance subsequently occurred due to the previous exposure to them and this will help in the expelling the parasite before establishing itself in the gastrointestinal tract (Shah-Fischer & Say, 1989;Urquhart et al., 1996). However, these results were contradictory to the findings of Ayana & Ifa (2015) those who found that old animals were having higher infection with GIT parasites than young and adult animals of Ethiopia. Fasciola species prevalence was higher in adults than young and not detected in kids. Others type of parasites such as Strongyles-type egg, Trichuris species and Skrjabinema ovis were mostly recorded in kids and young than adults as reported by Kanyari et al. (2009) in Kenya. Eimeria species were more prevalent in kids followed by young and adults. These results was coincided with those obtained by previous studies in Egypt, in Assiut Governorate (Arafa & Fouad, 2008) and in Giza Governorate (Hassan et al., 2019). Concerning the sex related GIT parasites prevalence, this study showed that GIT parasites prevalent was higher in male (75.4%) than female (62.4%) (Table 1). It was similar to that recorded by Minnat (2014) in Diyala Province-Iraq and Zvinorova et al. (2016) in Zimbabwe while, it was disagreed with Sutar et al. (2010) in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra and Gorski et al. (2004) in Poland who detected that males were more susceptible to infection. However other studies found that there was no statistical relation between sex and the prevalence of infection as in Ayana & Ifa (2015) in Ethiopia, Verma et al. (2018) in India and Hassan et al. (2019) in Giza Governorate, Egypt. Regarding the body condition related GIT parasites prevalence, infection rate was more in poor body condition (81.1%) as compared to normal body condition (48.3%) (Table 1). This analysis was supported by Kanyari et al. (2009) in Kenya, Muluneh et al. (2014) in Northwest Ethiopia and Ayana & Ifa (2015) in Ethiopia who declared that, animals with thin and moderate body condition scores were more susceptible to infection with GIT parasites than obese ones. The least susceptible animals with the infection were the healthy ones compared to the poor body condition ones (Radostits et al.,2000;Odoi et al., 2007). According to the rearing system related GIT parasites prevalence, these findings showed that the infection in extensive rearing system (71.4%) was higher than semi-intensive rearing system (65%) (Table 1). Various previous studies revealed that the goats under extensive rearing system had the highest GIT parasites as Osakwe & Anyigor (2007) in Nigeria (50%), Rabbi et al. (2011) in Bangladesh (86.14%), Ayana & Ifa (2015) in Ethiopia (75%). In Terengganu, Hashim & Yusof (2016) reported that the highest prevalence of infection (99%) was observed in goats reared under the intensive rearing system, extensive rearing system (98.3%) while the goats reared under the semi-intensive rearing system (96%) was the lowest. In extensive system, goats were allowed to graze freely in the fields (in the side of cultivable land, by the side of roads and some other fallow lands), so, the goats reared under this system were more susceptible to any infection. In contrast, semi-intensive system goats were not allowed to graze freely in the field and they were provided with restricted grazing in a selective grass field. There was a chance of gaining infection from pasture but the risk was lower than the extensive rearing system (Mohanta et al., 2007;Rabbi et al., 2011). Strongyle spp., Trichuris sp. and Skrjabinema ovis eggs were reported highest in goats reared under semi-intensive system due to grazing in a selective area so goats were predisposed to helminthes infections as in Rabbi et al. (2011). Moniezia sp. and Fasciola sp. showed the highest prevalence in goats reared under extensive system. Eimeria species infection was more prevalent in semi-intensive system (Table 3). This investigation were in agreement with Rabbi et al. (2011) in Bangladesh and Hashim & Yusof (2016) in Terengganu. Conclusion This study concluded that most of goats in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt harbored different species of gastrointestinal parasites. Strongyles type egg and Eimeria species oocysts were the most prevalent ones. Furthermore, it provided a base line about the associated risk factors as age, sex, body condition and system of management.        Conflict of interest None of the authors have any conflict of interest to declare. Acknowledgment Authors would like to thank animals owner who agreed to use their animal samples in this study. This work was performed using the facilities of the Laboratory of Parasitology Department in Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University.