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Collection of biting midges within a piggery farm using black-light suction traps revealed the presence of diverse species of Culicoides. Out of a total of one thousand four hundred and five (1,405) midges caught, one thousand three hundred and sixty-six (1,366) were identified as species in the genus Culicoides while the remaining thirtynine (39) were unidentified members in the family Ceratopogonidae. The identified Culicoides were further classified into eight species based on their morphological characteristics as C. imicola, C. pycnostictus, C. oxystoma, C. milnei, C. subschultzei, C. enderleini, C. nevilli and C. krameri. There was dominance of females (93.67%) over the males (6.33 %) from the total collection. The presence of Culicoides species infesting pigs was established and the identified Culicoides species were incriminated to be mammophilic in feeding. Recommendation is made to determine the blood meal source and possibility of disease transmission.

Parasitic helminth infections are a frequent burden to livestock farmers. In this study, some domestic ruminants were examined for gastrointestinal helminth infections at some locations in Benue State Nigeria. Six hundred faecal samples were collected per rectum from cattle, goat and sheep in Makurdi, Guma and Gboko. The faeces were analysed using Concentration Method, and direct microscopic examination of helminth parasites. Data were also obtained on the source of drinking water, feeding, and the management system used to keep the ruminants. The results showed that 43.7% of all animals were infected. The species of helminth parasites identified were Strongyloidesspp. 74.8% Haemonchusspp., 11.8% whileMoniezaspp., Trichuris spp., Taeniaspp.,Fasciolaspp., Ascaris spp., and Toxocaraspp., constituted 13.4%. Helminths infection was associated with the type of animal (p = 0.01), the source of drinking water (p < 0.001), food, and the management system (p<0.001), but not the sampled locations (p = 0.98). It was concluded that improved management practices, provision of good quality food and clean drinking water significantly reduced the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths infection in ruminants in Benue State, Nigeria.

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Parasitic diseases remain a major constraint to pig production, causing high morbidity and mortality rates, reduction in feed conversion ratio and weight gain, as well as compromising the reproductive performance of infected animals. The prevalence of parasites is considerably influenced by the type of husbandry system practiced. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence and comparison of gastrointestinal and haemoparasites of pigs reared within Makurdi metropolis under intensive and extensive management systems. A total of 209 blood and 209 faecal samples were collected from both intensive and extensively reared pigs of different breeds and analyzed. Thin blood smear technique was used for haemoparasites screening while simple flotation and sedimentation techniques were applied for faecal analysis, after which the data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics for prevalence determination. Five different gastrointestinal parasites, namely Strongyles, Trichuris suis, Taenia solium, Balantidium coli and Isospora species, and three haemoparasites, namely Babesia species, Anaplasma spp and Eperythrozoon suis were observed; with Strongyles and Babesia species seen as the most prevalent parasites in the study area. The gastrointestinal and haemoparasites prevalences were higher in extensively reared pigs (93.33% and 48% respectively) compared to 53.73% and 33.58% respectively in intensive system. The study has established the prevalence of certain gastrointestinal and haemoparasite species, and the effect of management system on the prevalence of these parasites within Makurdi metropolis. The extensive system of management has been seen to favour the prevalence of the parasites.

Three developmental abnormalities were found out of a total sample of eight hundred and twenty two within the genus Culicoides. These are two rare cases of double abdomen in females of the Schultzei and Imicola groups and a polar gynandromorphism, all in the genus Culicoides (biting midges) from Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. These females show double symmetrical abdomens equally attached to the meta-thorax and are related both on dorsal and ventral relative positions as well as larger and smaller relative capacities. The bi-abdomens in the Culicoides oxystoma (Schultzei group) were also separated by a speculated third rudimentary abdomen similarly attached to the meta-thorax; both abdomens possess three spermathecae (receptacula seminis) each but two spermathecae in the Culicoides imicola (Imicola group). The dorsal abdomen possesses eleven spiracles while the ventral sac, ten in the Culicoides oxystoma and revealed evidence of functionality; the dorsal abdomen was observed filled while the ventral only shows a smaller content volume. Both bi-abdominal specimens demonstrated no other apparent morphological dysfunction of other parts. On the other hand, the polar gynandromorphic specimen on stereomicroscopy revealed a typical female anterior portion and a posterior portion characteristic of male adult Culicoides. Further examination of the specimen showed absence of spermatheca. These abnormalities are the first reports of any type in invertebrates in Nigeria.

An evaluation of fly pests of cattle was conducted in Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology (FCAH&PT) Farm, Chaha Village, Jos South Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria between August and October, 2020. Samples were collected from the farm weekly for three months. A total of nine hundred and nineteen (919) adult dipterous flies comprising fifteen species in eight genera across the three sub-orders were caught and identified using aerial sweeping hand net, light trapping and aerial insecticide spray. Phlebotomus papaltasi (44.18%) was the most prevalent while Simulium damnosum (0.22%) was the least. Others were Musca domestica (17.73%), Stomoxys calcitrans (11.43%), Culicoides species (10.99%), Musca autumnalis (10.23%), mosquitoes – Anopheles gambiae/Culex quequinfasciatus (4.89%) and Tabanus species (0.33%). The haematophagous flies (72.04%) out-numbered the non-haematophagous flies (27.96%) and the number of females collected/caught 780 (84.87%) were higher than the males 139 (15.13%). The highest collections were made in October (353 representing 38.41%) while September had the lowest (263 /28.62%). The study established the presence of fly pests in the farm and recommends that appropriate control measures should be put in place to forestall any disease outbreak.

This study was carried out to evaluate fertility parameters in crossbred sows in Zaria, following treatment with Cloprostenol sodium (Synchromate ®). Ten (n = 10) apparently healthy crossbred sows were randomly assigned to two equal treatment groups based on number of injections of 500µg Synchromate ®. Group 1 received two injections on days 0 and 13, while Group 2 received three injections on days 0, 7 and 13. Oestrus was monitored visually for signs of oestrus twice daily from 0700-1000h and 1500-1800h. The fertility parameters evaluated were: oestrus response rate (ORR), time to onset of oestrus (TOO), duration of oestrus (DOO), conception rate (CR), pregnancy rate (PR), farrowing rate (FR) and litter size (LS). Data on ORR, CR, PR and FR were expressed in percentages while TOO, DOO and LS were expressed as mean ± SEM. Student t-test and Tukey's post-hoc test were used to compare the percentages and mean values between the groups. The Graphpad Prism ® data package was used for statistical analysis and values of P<0.05 were considered significant.