Interactions between gastrointestinal parasitism and pneumonia in Nigerian goats

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the burden and interactions between parasitism and pneumonia in Nigerian goats. A total of 430 goats were examined for gastrointestinal (GIT) parasites by faecal analysis using sedimentation by gravity, Modified Winconsin sugar floatation method, McMaster egg counting techniques and for lung consolidation, pathology and morphometry of pneumonia were evaluated by standard techniques. The results from the faecal examination revealed the presence of nine (9) gastrointestinal parasites namely ,, ,, , and species and at an overall high prevalence of 74% species was found to have the highest prevalence of 26% for single infection, while co-infection of and species 21% was highest amongst other parasites, and of the breeds of goats examined for GIT parasites, the Red Sokoto (RS) breed had the highest infection rate 37%. The results from the lungs analysis showed 59% prevalence with the highest consolidation in RS (48.2%), followed by WAD (34.2%). The age of the goats was key in the infection rate of both parasites and pneumonia, which was seen to be highest in younger goats, with a significant (2.10 ± 0.4 × 10) GI parasite burden in >1-2 years group. The prevalence of GIT infection with lung consolidation in the goats, was observed to influence their Body condition scores (BCS) ( < 0.05). This study showed that body condition score, age and breed of goats may be predisposing factors to gastrointestinal parasites and pneumonia in Nigerian goats. There was a strong correlation (+0.243, = 0.00) of occurrence of gastrointestinal parasitism and pneumonia in this study. Possibility of combined prophylactic measures should be considered in the nearest future.

The Influence of Parasite Infections on Host Immunity to Co-infection With Other Pathogens

“…A study of goats in Nigeria revealed that the incidence of pneumonia corresponded with the presence of gastrointestinal parasitism in the same animals ( 79 ). Furthermore, a strong association was observed between the occurrence of helminth infections and granulomatous pneumonia.…”

“…In this study the affected goats were often hydrated, implying that the gastrointestinal helminth infections may have caused pulmonary oedema due to increased fluid accumulation in the lung. The authors suggested that may this have reduced the efficacy of immunity in the lung, enabling other pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and/or viruses) to establish infection and the subsequent development of pneumonia ( 79 ).…”

EFEITO DO PARASITISMO POR Haemonchus contortus SOBRE O METABOLISMO OXIDATIVO DE LEUCÓCITOS DE OVINOS

“…Desta maneira, a redução da função dos fagócitos sanguíneos além de dificultar a eliminação parasitária dos animais que têm o perfil de resposta Th1, ainda seria responsável pela maior susceptibilidade dos animais parasitados a infecções bacterianas (20) . Provavelmente este fato explicaria o motivo pelo qual as cabras com maior infecção por hemoncose apresentaram correlação positiva e significativa com pneumonias naturalmente adquiridas no trabalho de Adeymi e colaboradores (7) .…”

“…Se tal fato realmente ocorrer em infecções naturalmente adquiridas, é possível que os animais susceptíveis, que usam neutrófilos como principal célula efetora para eliminação desses parasitas, além de apresentarem menor eficiência em sua eliminação, ainda apresentam uma diminuição de imunidade celular inata, tornando-os mais susceptíveis a infecções bacterianas. Embora esse mecanismo de ação ainda não tenha sido estudado, Adeyemi et al (7) observaram correlação positiva entre a alta infecção por hemoncose e incidência de pneumonia granolumatosa em cabras, inferindo que esta parasitose promoveu redução da imunidade, favorecendo a ocorrência desta comorbidade.…”

Correlates of Resistance to Gastro-Intestinal Parasites Infection in South African Communal Indigenous Goat Populations

“…belonging to the order Strongylida (Blackie, 2014;Verma et al, 2018;Mpofu et al, 2020). Their prevalence varies with location/agro-ecological zones and ranges up to 90% and have been documented in various studies in Africa (Adeyemi et al, 2017;Zvinorova, 2017;Hassan et al, 2019;Squire et al, 2019;Mpofu et al, 2020). The primary control strategy for the GIP infections is the use of anthelmintic drugs (Maqbool et al, 2017), which is not sustainable because the GIP, especially the nematodes, develop anthelminthic drug resistance more quickly (Kelley et al, 2016;Erez and Kozan, 2018).…”