Helminth Infections in Cattle and Goats in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, with Focus on Strongyle Nematode Infections

Abstract

Gastrointestinal helminths are major enteric parasites affecting the health of important livestock ruminants, such as cattle and goats. It is important to routinely survey these animals for helminth infections to allow effective management and control programs to be implemented. A cross-sectional helminth survey carried out in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, revealed the infection rate of gastrointestinal helminths in cattle (n = 157) and goats (n = 117) to be 35.7% and 88%, respectively, by microscopic fecal examination, and a 100% herd prevalence was observed in goats. Eggs of strongyle nematodes, Strongyloides spp., Trichuris spp., Capillaria spp., Paramphistomum spp., and Moniezia spp. were detected, with a relatively high rate of strongyle nematode infection in both cattle (28.7%) and goats (86.3%). Mixed infections were observed in 14.3% and 35.9% of egg-positive samples from cattle and goats, respectively. Risk factor analysis showed that dairy cattle were 5.1 times more likely to be infected with strongyles than meat cattle. In contrast, meat goats were 9.3 times more likely to be infected with strongyles than dairy goats. The inverse findings in cattle and goats are discussed. Female gender was associated with a higher risk of strongyle infection in goats. DNA sequencing and in-house semi-nested PCR with primers specific to a region in the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) were successfully used to identify strongyle genera in randomly selected egg-positive cattle (n = 24) and goat (n = 24) samples. Four strongyle genera, i.e., Cooperia spp., Haemonchus spp., Oesophagostomum spp., and Trichostrongylus spp. were identified by DNA sequencing. By semi-nested PCR, Cooperia spp. were detected as a major parasite of cattle (70.8%), whereas Haemonchus spp. were abundant in goats (100%). The majority of samples from cattle (58.3%) and goats (95.8%) were found to coinfect with at least two strongyle genera, suggesting that coinfection with multiple strongyle genera was more common than single infection in these animals.

Current status and related risk factors of abomasal nematodes in calves using Mini-FlOTAC as a new technique in Mosul city, Iraq

“…Various reason could attributed to the difference in rates of infection less and/or higher or near to this study and the studies conducted locally and other countries such as: geographical area, season, numbers of animals examined, techniques used for diagnosis, breeding systems, animal breed And the presence of resistance to repellents. The outcome here agreed with what was recorded by a number of literatures in different countries around the world (Rupa and Portugaliza,2016;Income et al, 2021).…”

“…Numerous nematode parasites can infect the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of cattle and induce clinical and sub-clinical diseases which influence the health status and cause remarkable financial losses to the farm industry (Njonge,2017). For authorized successful control programs, scanning the animals for helminths infestations is necessary to be performed (Income et al,2021 ). The majority of gastrointestinal parasites belong to the superfamily Trichostrongyloidea, order Strongylida, phylum Nematoda and include about twenty species.…”

Rumen Fluke in Cattle and Buffaloes in Asia: A Review

“…Bovine is most susceptible to chronic diseases because most bovine production systems are pasturebased (Sargison et al, 2016). Rumen fluke infection is present worldwide in the temperate and tropical climate regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Australia (Harizt et al, 2021;Huson et al, 2017;Pfukenyi & Mukaratirwa, 2018) and infects domestic ruminants, such as cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goat and some wild ruminants, which are caused by digenean fluke (Income et al, 2021;Pfukenyi & Mukaratirwa, 2018). Nowadays, rumen fluke is an emerging parasitic infection in European ruminant animals (Huson et al, 2017).…”

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Nematodes, Cestodes, and Protozoans of Goats in Nyagatare District, Rwanda

“…The computed sample size was increased by 50% to redress the probable nonresponse. 41,42 This study thus aimed at sampling 150 goats of which 149 were successfully sampled. Goats were restrained in a standing position and fresh faecal samples were collected directly from the rectum using a gloved index finger into a faecal pot.…”