Cross sectional epidemiological investigation on the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in free range chickens in Narsingdi district, Bangladesh

Abstract

Rural poultry production in Bangladesh is mainly based on the free range or backyard poultry production system. This backyard poultry plays a vital tool for poverty alleviation as well as for empowerment of poor women of this country. However, this production system has disadvantage of susceptibility to many diseases including higher burden of parasitic infection. Therefore this cross sectional epidemiological investigation was done to determine the prevalence and distribution of gastrointestinal helminths in Narsingdi district, Bangladesh. To conduct this study a total of 150 chickens from three different villages of Narsingdi district, Bangladesh (50 chickens per village) were collected by random sampling method and killed by cervical disarticulation. Thereafter, all the chickens were necropsied and gastrointestinal tracts were examined macroscopically for the presence helminth infection. In total two nematode (Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum,) and one cestode (Raillietina spp.) were identified by post mortem examination. Raillietina spp. was detected as the most prevalent helminth species (86-92 %) followed by A. galli (70-86 %), and H. gallinarum (70-76 %) in studied villages. In some chickens petechial hemorrhage were observed in the small intestinal wall which was associated with the A. galli infection and for some birds white tiny nodules were detected in case of H. gallinarum infection. No significant difference in parasite prevalence was observed between male and female bird as well as among three studied villages (P [ 0.05). We observed that most of chickens were infected with more than one species of parasites. This finding suggests that the poultry production system in rural areas of Bangladesh and the environmental conditions are very favourable for the transmission and persistence of the parasite species in rural areas of Bangladesh.

Prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal helminthes among grey-breasted helmet guinea fowls (Numida meleagris galeata) encountered in Gombe state, Nigeria

“…For instance, the consumption of poultry meat in developing countries from 1990s to 2005 has increased by 35 tonnes; almost doubling the increase that occurred during the same period in developed countries ( www.fao.org ). In developing countries, poultry production is mainly practiced in rural areas, because it requires less land, low capital and cheap labour easily provided by the family members [3] . In most cases, the farming is targeted on one hand at providing meat and eggs for immediate family consumption during festivities and traditional ceremonies and as source of income and poverty alleviation on the other hand [4] .…”

“…In this way of their feeding habit, they eat grasses, insects, house refuse, flies, cockroaches, ants, beetles, earthworms etc. [3] , [6] , many of which serve as intermediate hosts of helminth parasites. Therefore, this scavenging habit increases their risks of contracting gastrointestinal helminthes either by directly eating the worm larva or indirectly the intermediate hosts.…”

“…Among the parasitic diseases, gastrointestinal helminthes were ranked high. Among these, nematodes and cestodes constitute the most important groups [3] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] . Helminthes cause considerable economic losses to poultry farmers worldwide.…”

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Helminth Infections in Indigenous Chickens of Selected Areas of Barisal District, Bangladesh

“…In fact the indigenous chickens of Bangladesh are parasitized by various parasites (Sarkar, 1976). Very few studies have been undertaken so far to determine the prevalence of gastrosintestinal helminth infection in indigenous chickens in Bangladesh (Rabbi et al, 2006;Ferdushy et al, 2014). No such studies have been done in Barisal region.…”

Frequency of anti-Toxocara antibodies in broiler chickens in southern Brazil

“…Backyard production methods imply low biosafety measures and a high risk of infectious diseases (CONAN et al, 2012;IBRAHIM et al, 2016). Chickens reared in backyards, for instance, harbour a wide variety of geo-parasites, becoming highly infected during feeding (BEN SLIMANE, 2016;FERDUSHY et al, 2016;JAVAREGOWDA et al, 2016). In Bangladesh, chickens reared in backyards were significantly more susceptible to infections by parasites than those reared in intensive systems (RABBI et al, 2006).…”