Studies on gastro-intestinal helminths of <i>Equus acinus</i> in North Gujarat, India

Abstract

A year round study (October to September) was conducted in the districts of North Gujarat (India) to identify the gastro-intestinal helminths of donkeys (Equus acinus), determine prevalence and correlate haematological parameters with parasite burdens. A total of 1794 faecal samples of donkeys contained the following helminths (prevalence % in brackets): Strongyloides westeri (17.2), Parascaris equorum (23.8), Strongylus sp. (55.3), an amphistome digenean (1.5), Anoplocephala sp. (1.0), Balantidium coli (13.1) and Eimeria leuckarti (7.0). Overall prevalence was 75.9 with a mean of 627 (50-1650) eggs per gram faeces. Seasonally the maximum prevalence (85.3) occurred in March and minimum (65.2) in July. 14% of donkeys were considered to be severely infected, 38% heavily, 36% moderately and 12% mildly infected. Larval cultures revealed the presence of (prevalence%): Cyathostomum sp. (48)

Risk Factors Associated with the Occurrence of Gastrointestinal Helminths among Indigenous Donkeys (Equus asinus) in Northeastern Nigeria

“…The overall prevalence of helminth parasites among donkeys reported is 98.3% (Table 1), which agrees with reports by Ayele et al [28], Ibrahim et al [14], and Wannas et al [33] who reported respective prevalence of 98.2%, 96.9%, and 100% in Dugda Bora District, southern Ethiopia, and Al Diwaniyah Governorate, respectively. However, it is relatively lower than 90%, 86.5%, 75.9%, and 55.7% prevalence rates as reported by Samuel et al [6], Parsani et al [9], Getachew et al [34], and Muhammad et al [35] in Kombolcha Town, North Gujarat, Ethiopia, and Pakistan, respectively. These differences might be connected with factors such as variations in sample sizes, sampling periods, deworming strategy, accessibility to veterinary clinics, and methods employed for sample analysis, which may affect the prevalence rate.…”

“…Donkeys represent an important aspect of small holder farming system especially in rural communities and hamlets, where there exist poor road networks or even nonexisting roads; they are used for conveying people, goods, and farm inputs and outputs to and from farms [7, 8]. Unfortunately, Donkeys are left malnourished and underfed, subjected to different conditions of hardships like maltreatment, poor management conditions, and overladen [9]. …”