Helminthic Parasites of Chickens (Gallus Domesticus) in Different Regions of São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

The Brazilian poultry industry is an outstanding national and international agribusiness sector. Among the Brazilian states, São Paulo is the largest producer of commercial eggs and the fourth largest producer and exporter of chicken meat. Alternatively, semiintensive and/or organic poultry production have also obtained a significant share of the domestic market as a result of consumer demand. Helminths affect the performance of the birds, causing significant direct or indirect losses. The objective of the present study was to identify the main helminth species present in chickens reared in 17 municipalities of the state of São Paulo. In total, 359 adult birds were investigated. The birds were reared in different housing systems and were obtained from 69 farms in the selected regions. The birds were submitted to procedures for the detection and identification of helminth parasites, following international standards. The evaluation of the small intestine employed the Mello-Campos method (Mello & Campos, 1974), which allows better recovery of cestode scolices attached to the intestinal mucosa. Stereomicroscopy was used to evaluate the collected materials, and light microscopy was used to identify the species based on their morphological characteristics. The following helminth species were diagnosed in chickens reared in 17 municipalities of the state of São Paulo: nematodes (Ascaridia galli,

Prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal helminthes among grey-breasted helmet guinea fowls (Numida meleagris galeata) encountered in Gombe state, Nigeria

“…had the highest prevalence. Similar observations were reported by other researchers in Nigeria [17] , [20] , [26] , [27] and around the world [3] , [14] , [30] , [34] , [35] , [36] ; where it was reported to be associated with reduced weight gain among birds, resulting in significant economic losses to poultry farmers. The high prevalence observed could reflect the abundance of the intermediate hosts of Raillietina spp.…”

“…galli among birds raised under the free-range systems has also been reported in many countries worldwide. da Silva et al [36] reported the occurrence of A. galli among chickens from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Similarly, Puttalakshmamma et al [35] , reported a prevalence of 91.4% of A. galli among chickens sourced from Bangalore, India.…”

Gastrointestinal Parasites in Free-Range Chicken Raised under Extensive System from the Northeast of Brazil

“…In Brazil we can mention the work of Costa et al (1986) that published a literature review and described 50 species of helminthic parasites of chickens' occurrence in Brazilian states and territories. Afterwards, works were published in the States of Rio de Janeiro (D'Avila et al, 2004;Gomes et al, 2009), Paraná, (Vieira, 2010), São Paulo (Silva et al, 2016) and so on, and also pointed out Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum and Railleitina as frequent parasites in chicken. However, chickens can present a diversity of nematode, cestoda and trematoda helminthes as reported by Silva et al (2018) when studying helminthic infections in chickens (Gallus domesticus) raised indifferent production systems in Brazil Related to the sex of the parasites we had: 40% female and 60% male of A. galli, 36.11% female and 63.89% males of H. gallinarum and 72.22% female and 27.78% male of Subulura spp.…”

An Outbreak of Intestinal Obstruction by Ascaridia Galli in Broilers in Minas Gerais

“…Although free-range on grass did not correlate to Ascaridia galli infection in Europe (Thapa et al, 2015), despite temperatures of 18.8°C or lower will stop larva development (Reid, 1960), but preserving its viability (Tharbiat et al, 2018), the climatic and environmental conditions may have a role in other regions, such as cooler climates. A. galli has a broad avian host range and infection has been described in industrial and free-range chickens, and wild species (Marietto-Gonçalves et al, 2009;Silva et al, 2016;Teixeira et al, 2012;Andery et al, 2013).…”

“…In Brazil (São Paulo), adult chickens of different housing and management strategies, were shown most commonly infected by A. galli and Heterakis gallinarum (Silva et al, 2016). An outbreak of intestinal disease in Pavo cristatus causing diarrhea, dehydration, anorexia and weight loss, was associated to A. galli (Teixeira et al, 2012).…”