No abstract

Response of Nigerian indigenous (local) and broiler chickens to experimental Eimeria infections was investigated by measures of clinical signs, packed cell volume (PCV), body weights (BW), feed consumption, faecal oocyst counts (oocyst per gram), and microscopic intestinal lesions. Three-week-old chickens of each breed received single pulse infections with 2500, 5000, and 100.000 sporulated Eimeria oocysts. Infected birds were dull and passed bloody diarrhoea. OPG showed a dose related response but no significant difference between groups (P > 0.05). OPG was significantly higher in local chickens (P < 0.05) and varied significantly with time (P < 0.05). PCV declined significantly in infected birds within breeds and groups (P < 0.05); however, the decline in PCV was significantly greater in broilers (P < 0.05). Both breeds had significant BW gains (P < 0.05). BW gain varied between groups being significantly higher in the uninfected control broilers than in the infected broilers (P < 0.05). Comparatively, broilers gained significantly more BW than their local counterparts (P < 0.05). Feed intake increased significantly with time (P < 0.05) in both breeds. The Eimeria isolate was pathogenic to both breeds of chicken although clinical signs and lesions were more severe in indigenous chickens suggesting the breed's more susceptibility.

A total of six hundred and eighty (680) cases of dogs visiting the Abia state veterinary clinic were examined to investigate the influence of age, breed, sex, and season on the prevalence of gastro intestinal helminth parasites (GIHP) of dogs from 2007-2012. It was observed from the results that out of six hundred and eighty (680) cases recorded, the prevalence of GIHP were. Ancylostoma 217 (31.9%) Toxocara 81, (11.9%) tape worm 36 (5.2%). The age of the dogs significantly influenced the occurrence of Ancylostoma infections and Toxocara infections (p<0.05) while it has no association with tape worm infections. The season as a factor has influence on the infection and it is clear from the study (p<0.05) the influence of sex is not significant (p>0.05) while the influence of breed on the occurrence of ancylostomosis in local breeds was significant (p<0.05).

No abstract

Response of the West African Dwarf (WAD) goats to two different isolates of Haemonchus contortus, the Red Sokoto (RS) goat isolate (RSHc) and the WAD goat isolate (WADHc) (isolated from WAD goats), was studied by experimental infections of 4–6-month-old male WAD goat kids. Group 1 and Group 2 goats were each infected with 4500 infective larvae (L3) of RSHc and WADHc, respectively. Group 3 animals served as uninfected control. Prepatent period (PPP), faecal egg counts (FEC), worm burden (WB), body weight (BW), packed cell volume (PCV), and body condition score (BCS) were determined. WAD goats infected with RSHc isolate and the ones infected with WADHc isolate had mean PPP of 19.63 ± 0.26 and 19.50 ± 0.19, respectively. Goats infected with WADHc isolate had significantly higher FEC (P = 0.004) and WB (P = 0.001). BW were significantly higher (P = 0.004) both in the controls and in Group 2 goats infected with WADHc isolate than in Group 1 goats infected with the RSHc isolate. BCS of animals in both infected groups dropped significantly (P = 0.001). There was a significant drop in PCV (P = 0.004) of both infected groups in comparison. Both isolates of H. contortus were pathogenic to the host.