Gastrointestinal helminths of intensively managed poultry in Kwara Central, Kwara State, Nigeria: Its diversity, prevalence, intensity, and risk factors

Abstract

Aim: Helminth infections inflict negatively on the production and well-being of animals including poultry. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence, species diversity, intensity, and risk factors associated with the gastrointestinal helminths of intensively raised poultry in Kwara Central senatorial district of Kwara State. Materials and Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 502 poultry species from 15 farms. The samples were subjected to floatation and the formalin-ethyl acetate concentration techniques of examination. The intensity of infections was determined using McMaster counting technique. Results: Seven helminth species were detected with Heterakis gallinarum (10.2%) and Ascaridia galli (6.0%) been the most prevalent, while Capillaria species was the least prevalent (0.8%). Physiological status, bird type, production purpose, farm age (years), presence of other animals in the farm, flock size (birds), farm size (acres), housing type, farm type, frequency of anthelmintic use, distance to waste area (meters), level of biosecurity, and frequency of cleaning the pen were the risk factors significantly (p<0.05) associated with the presence of helminth infections. Conclusion: This study shows that helminth infections are endemic in the study area, as 66.7% of the sampled farms were infected with one or more helminth species. Findings from this study provide information that will assist in improving the poultry sector in Kwara State, Nigeria in general, for better production and profitability.

Global and regional prevalence of helminth infection in chickens over time: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The increasing demand for poultry products for human consumption has resulted in substantial growth of extensively and intensively housed poultry over the last few decades ( Permin and Hansen, 1998 ; Ola-Fadunsin et al., 2019 ). As a result, poultry production is making a significant and increasing contribution to the national economy of most countries ( Dube et al., 2010 ; Adang et al., 2014 ; Ferdushy et al., 2016 ).…”

“…Gastrointestinal helminthiasis is caused by roundworms (nematodes), tapeworms (cestodes), and flukes (trematodes) ( Ruff, 1999 ; Macklin, 2013 ; Ola-Fadunsin et al., 2019 ). With respect to the health impact of the infection, the abundance of pathogenic species, and the economic importance, nematodes are the most important intestinal worms in the poultry industry ( Ruff, 1999 ; Macklin, 2013 ; Bachaya et al., 2015 ; Ola-Fadunsin et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Gastrointestinal helminthiasis is caused by roundworms (nematodes), tapeworms (cestodes), and flukes (trematodes) ( Ruff, 1999 ; Macklin, 2013 ; Ola-Fadunsin et al., 2019 ). With respect to the health impact of the infection, the abundance of pathogenic species, and the economic importance, nematodes are the most important intestinal worms in the poultry industry ( Ruff, 1999 ; Macklin, 2013 ; Bachaya et al., 2015 ; Ola-Fadunsin et al., 2019 ). Impacts associated with nematode infections include reduced health, welfare, and production performance due to reduced feed conversion ratio, reduced growth rates or weight loss, reduced egg production and egg quality, intestinal damage, and in severe cases, death ( Ramadan and Znada, 1991 ; Das et al., 2010 , 2012 ; Dube et al., 2010 ; Sreedevi et al., 2016 ; Rufai and Jato, 2017 ).…”

Helminthic parasites in indigenous chickens in Penang Island, Malaysia

“…However, none was found infected with all 14 species of parasites and majority of parasites recovered in this study were gastrointestinal parasites. High species richness among indigenous chickens with scavenging habit is expected because there is accessibility to infective material involving the infective eggs or intermediate hosts such as snails, beetles or cockroaches whereby they might pick up these infective materials from the contaminate the environment as they feed and scavenge for food (Ola-Fadunsin et al, 2019).…”

Endoparasic diseases of ostriches in eastern Ukraine

“…A clinical examination of black African ostriches (Struthio camelus Linnaeus, 1758), Australian common Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae Latham, 1790) and rhea (Rhea americana Linnaeus, 1758) was carried out according to existing methods (Yüksek et al, 2002;Buergelt, 2020). Helminoproscopic studies of fecal samples from ostriches of different age groups were carried out using the method of direct smear and concentration (flotation and sedimentation) (Tomza-Marciniak et al, 2014;Byrnea et al, 2018;Ola-Fadunsin et al, 2019). The extent of bird invasion was determined by the formula:…”