Calves gastrointestinal nematodes and Eimeria prevalence and associated risk factors in dairy farms, southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Dairy production is an important component of livestock farming in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the productivity of the sector has been impacted negatively by the morbidity and mortality of replacement animals. A Cross-sectional study was, therefore, aimed at estimating the prevalence of Nematode and Eimeria infection in calves in Hawassa, Shashemene and Arsi Negelle, southern Ethiopia. To this end, a flotation technique was used to recover Nematode egg and Eimeria oocyst from rectally collected faeces. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infection, Nematode and Eimeria species collectively, was 43.9% (95% CI=38.6-49.4). The estimated proportion of Nematode, Eimeria and mixed infection was 35.8%, 21.5% and 13.3%, respectively. Among the potential factors considered faecal consistency, age and study area were found to increase recovery of Nematode egg and Eimeria oocyst in faeces (p< 0.05). Area wise, the prevalence has been noted to be higher at Arsi Negelle followed by Hawassa and Shashemene (p< 0.05). Besides, younger and diarrheic calves were found more infected by Nematode and Eimeria species than their adult and non-diarrheic counterpart. Based on their morphological appearance, Strongyle type (20.3%), Trichuris (4.2%) and Ascaris (16.3%) eggs, Eimeria oocysts (21.5%) were observed. In the light of this finding, the authors would like to advise the need for strategic intervention.

Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Parasites of Cattle in Three Districts in Central Ethiopia

“…The prevalence values of the gastrointestinal parasites recorded in the present study are, on the whole, in line with most of the studies conducted in Ethiopia [3,5,[10][11][12][13]15,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. In some studies, gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) were considered all together, including GIS, Strongyloides spp., ascarids and trichurids, and the overall prevalence was, therefore, exceeding the prevalence of GIS alone [5,13,36,39].…”

“…The prevalence values of the gastrointestinal parasites recorded in the present study are, on the whole, in line with most of the studies conducted in Ethiopia [3,5,[10][11][12][13]15,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. In some studies, gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) were considered all together, including GIS, Strongyloides spp., ascarids and trichurids, and the overall prevalence was, therefore, exceeding the prevalence of GIS alone [5,13,36,39]. However, in our study, we considered GIS (i.e., gastrointestinal strongyles belonging to the order Strongylida, also named 'strongylids') and other nematodes separately, considering their highly different biological, pathological and epidemiological characteristics.…”

“…Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, with an estimated population of 57.83 million cattle, 26.12 million sheep, 21.71 million goats, 1.01 million camels and 7.73 million equines [1]. Despite this large livestock population, the economic benefits to their owners remain marginal due to poor nutrition, poor animal production systems, general lack of veterinary care and prevailing diseases including helminthic infections [2][3][4][5]. Parasitic diseases cause heavy economic losses and represent a major impediment to livestock production worldwide [6].…”

“…and Moniezia spp. [4,5]. The occurrence, prevalence and epidemiology of these parasitic helminths vary considerably depending on local environmental conditions such as humidity, rainfall, temperature, vegetation cover and climatic conditions [14].…”

“…The occurrence, prevalence and epidemiology of these parasitic helminths vary considerably depending on local environmental conditions such as humidity, rainfall, temperature, vegetation cover and climatic conditions [14]. Similarly, the presence of coccidian parasites was also reported in different areas of the country [5,11,15]. However, only scattered data are available on the species diversity, prevalence and epidemiology of the parasites affecting cattle in Ethiopia.…”