Prevalence and Pathology of Linguatula serrata Infestation in Mesenteric Lymph Nodes of Sheep in Kirikkale, Turkey

The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and pathology of Linguatula serrata infestation in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) of sheep slaughtered at the municipal abattoir in Kirikkale (in Central Anatolia, Turkey). For this purpose, 1729 MLNs were collected from 258 sheep (231 females and 27 males). On gross examination 14 sheep (5.4 %) were infested and nymphal stages of L. serrata were detected in 97 of 1729 MLNs (5.2%). In terms of gender, 1.6 % of infested animals were male and 3.9 % were female. Prevalence of L. serrata nymphs in MLNs, and relative frequency of L. serrata in MLNs in different age groups was not statistically significantly different. In histopathological examinations, parasitic granulomas with necrosis in lymph nodes was the major lesion. One or more nymphal stages of L. serrata were surrounded by infiltration of mononuclear (lymphocyte and histiocyte) and giant cells in some cases with fibrosis.