A team of faculty members and students from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), consisting of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FKH) and the Faculty of Animal Sciences, carried out helminthiasis prevention and treatment in sheep in the Sriharjo Village, Imogiri, Bantul, on Sunday (August 21).
This activity has been conducted routinely since May and will continue until November.
Community Service Head of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Soedarmanto Indarjulianto, mentioned that Sriharjo Village was selected for livestock development and animal treatment because the area is an agrotourism destination.
Livestock farming is still conducted traditionally in this village. Sheep are not the primary source of income, and their management is not yet handled professionally.
“As a result, many sheep experience health problems, with helminthiasis being common in traditional farming,” said Dr. Indarjulianto.
According to him, helminthiasis attacks the sheep’s digestive tract, causing them to become thin, have dull fur, and sometimes experience diarrhea and even death.
“The main trigger for this disease is improper sheep management, which allows worm larvae to infect and reproduce in the sheep’s digestive tract easily,” he explained.
Dr. Indarjulianto stated that the findings of parasitology cases in the field motivated the UGM Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Animal Sciences team to carry out educational activities on preventing the infection through healthy livestock management, supporting the Agro Edu Techno Park area in the Sompok Hamlet of Sriharjo Village.
Professor Ambar Pertiwiningrum from the Faculty of Animal Sciences mentioned that the educational activities involved approaches and dialogues with stakeholders such as the village head and livestock group members.
The team also collected data on residents’ knowledge of worm disease and inventoried the number of sheep affected by it.
“We provided training and direct education on recognizing the disease, preventing and treating it, and implementing healthy livestock management through healthy pens and the proper treatment of livestock waste,” she explained.
This community service activity is an initiative of the UGM Directorate of Community Service under the Community Service for Education-Based Sustainable Development scheme.
Author: Gusti Grehenson