Epidemiological Assessment of Health Status of Owned and Free-Roaming Dogs in Juba County, South Sudan

Lily Poulino¹, Jaja Lewis Khamis², Ammar AH Ahmed⁶, Jubara Ambrose Samuel⁴, Ochi Erneo Bernardo⁵, Adill MA Salman³* and Ammar A. Hamid Ahmed⁷

¹Lecturer in the Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Juba, South Sudan
²Professor of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine-University of Juba, South Sudan
³Professor of Epidemiology, University of Bhri, One Health Centre, Sudan
⁴Professor of Gynecology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Upper Nile, South Sudan
⁵Professor of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Science, University of Bhar El-Ghazal, South Sudan
⁶Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bahri, Sudan
⁷Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth & Water Resources, Oman

*Corresponding Author: Adill MA Salman, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Bhri, One Health Centre, Sudan.

Received: December 01, 2025; Published: December 10, 2025

Abstract

Background: Dogs play a critical role in public health as potential reservoirs for Zoonotic diseases. However, data on their health status in South Sudan remain scarce.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the population structure and health status of owned and free-roaming dogs in Juba County, South Sudan, and to assess the prevalence of major diseases and parasites.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in six locations of Juba County—Gudele, Gurei, Gumbo, Juba, Kator, and Munuki. Examination was performed on 3,051 owned dogs and 194 free-roaming dogs to record sex, age, and health conditions. A subset of 39 dogs underwent thin blood smear examination for hemoparasites.

Statistical comparisons between groups were performed using the Independent Samples t-test and the Kruskal–Wallis test, with significance set at p < 0.05.

Results: Owned dogs comprised 90.76% males (n = 2,769) and 9.24% females (n = 282), with tick infestation (37.40%), mange (16.26%), and parvovirus infection (13.21%) as the most common conditions. Free-roaming dogs were 86.60% males (n = 168) and 13.40% females (n = 26), with mange (59.28%) and traumatic injuries (18.56%) predominating. Owned dogs had significantly higher mean prevalence of mange (p = 0.012) and septic wounds (p = 0.003) compared to free-roaming dogs. Blood smear analysis revealed hemoparasites in 25.6% of tested dogs, with the highest prevalence in the 1–3 years age group (15.3%). The Kruskal–Wallis test showed no significant differences in disease distribution among locations (p > 0.05).

Keywords:Dogs, Juba County; Mange; Tick infestation; Parvovirus; Haemo-parasites; South Sudan

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Citation

Citation: Adill MA Salman.,et al. “Epidemiological Assessment of Health Status of Owned and Free-Roaming Dogs in Juba County, South Sudan".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 10.1 (2026): 01-07.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Adill MA Salman., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.