This work was developed for proposing a control strategy of sheep helminthes in the Santa Catarina Plateau. The prevalence, intensity and seasonal variation of gastrointestinal and pulmonary helminths in three farms of Lages, São Joaquim, and Campos Novos in Santa Catarina State, Brazil were assessed. Monthly, three tracer lambs were used by property. They had been previously housed for 30 days and suppressively treated by anthelmintics with different active ingredients followed by weekly parasitological examinations to assure the total elimination of parasitic infection. After this, they were taken back to their respective farms, where they grazed for 28 days and housed again for another 20 days. After this period, they were sacrificed for estimating the total worm burden, and 10% of abomasum and small intestine material was sampled as well as all the helminthes from the large intestine and the lungs. The heaviest Haemonchus contortus infection was registered from October to March. Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Trichostrongylus axei had increased rates through the experimental years, showing the peak from May to October of 1999. The most prevailing species in the abomasum were H. contortus (100%), T. axei (98.7%), T. colubriformis (1.3%), Teladorsagia circumcincta (100%) and Ostertagia ostertagi (100%); in the small intestine: T. colubriformis (100%), Cooperia punctata (69.1%), C. pectinata (18.4%), C. curticei (6.9%), C. oncophora (4.8%), C. spatulata (0.8%) and Nematodirus spathiger (100%). In the large intestine: Oesophagostomum venulosum (100%) and Trichuris ovis (100%). No worms were detected in the lungs.
sheep; epidemiology; helminths
