Muhamed Faez Al-Tabbaa1*, Abdul karem Kalbloze1 and Samer Ibrahim1

¹ Hama University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, HAMA, SYRIA.

(*Corresponding author: Muhamed Faez ALTABBAA, Email: p.m.f.tz7z@gmail.com)

Received: 28/ 4/ 2026               Accepted: 15/ 5/ 2026

Abstract: 

Rectal swab samples were examined from Awassi sheep, collected from 20 flocks in (300) a total of twenty different regions of the central region of Syria to detect Yersinia enterocolitica infection in sheep. The total number of sheep in the tested flocks was 6,784 heads. The study results indicated that the bacterial prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica among sheep in the central region of Syria was 8.66%, with 26 out of 300 samples testing positive for Yersinia enterocolitica using bacterial culture, catalase test, and motility assay. The prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica in sheep was 9% during winter and 17% during spring, while no prevalence was recorded during the other seasons in the central region of Syria. The prevalence among sheep aged six months or younger was 16%, while it was 4.8% among sheep older than six months and up to one and a half years. No prevalence was recorded among sheep older than one and a half years in the central region of Syria.

Keywords: Yersinia: enterocolitica, Sheep, Hama, risk factors, prevalence.

 Full paper in Arabic: PDF