Distribution, Major Epidemiological Features and Control of Equid Gastrointestinal Parasites in Mainland Portugal

Lopes, Ana Sofia; Melo-Franco, B.; Nunes, Telmo; Sousa, Sérgio Ramalho; Fabrica, P.; Bráz, Berta São; Madeira-de-Carvalho, L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-61981-7_19

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The obtained results, eggs per gram of feces (EPG), allowed the calculation of the prevalence of strongyle infection, considering that a negative result corresponded to less than 50 EPG. According to the EPG value, it was also possible to rank the level of parasite infection (LPI) as weak LPI (50 to 450 EPG), medium LPI (500 to 1000 EPG) and strong LPI (>1000 EPG) [ 35 , 36 ]. Thus, deworming was performed in animals showing a medium or strong LPI, as mentioned above.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To evaluate the biodiversity of parasites, all the samples were submitted to fecal culture to obtain third-stage larvae. Fecal culture was performed following the method of Roberts and O’Sullivan modified by Ueno and Gutierres [ 31 , 35 , 37 , 38 ]. The morphological identification of third-stage larvae was performed following several authors, allowing the identification of genera and species based on strongylids’ L3 [ 31 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gastrointestinal Parasitism in Miranda Donkeys: Epidemiology and Selective Control of Strongyles Infection in the Northeast of Portugal

Sousa

Anastácio

Nóvoa³

et al. 2021

Animals

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In Portugal, equine parasitism in pasture animals is characterized by high parasitic burden and high helminthic biodiversity; both factors are potentially pathogenic for their hosts. The decrease in the number of donkeys over the last years in Portugal, their importance in rural lowland and mountain ecosystems and pastures and the scarce information regarding their parasitism led to this research, which aimed to evaluate the parasitological status of a Miranda donkey breed population, a native breed mainly located in the northeast of Portugal. This study provides better knowledge of their gastrointestinal parasitism, particularly strongyles, and the assessment of a targeted selective treatment (TST) as an alternative control approach of their parasitism. A longitudinal observational study was developed during a period of five years in a population of 62 Miranda donkeys. At first, strategic deworming of these animals was performed every semester, but this was progressively replaced by a TST approach according to the levels of Eggs per Gram (EPG). This new deworming strategy was conducted in association with a regular parasitological monitoring of the animals every three months, being dewormed with ivermectin when egg shedding was higher than 500 EPG. Over the study period, a decrease of the annual prevalence rate of infection by gastrointestinal strongyles was observed, from 35.5% to 19.4%, as well as a negative binomial distribution of parasitic strongyles in donkeys submitted to selective anthelminthic control. The prevalence rate of infection was higher in females (39.5%), in individuals under four years (46.7%) and in those presenting a lower body condition (40.8%). The egg output was higher in animals younger than four years (589.3 EPG) than in those older than 10 years (533.6 EPG) (p < 0.05). However, no differences were observed according to sex during the study period. Results from this study allowed to note the influence of swampy pastures and of the weather changes in the epidemiology of strongylosis in Miranda donkeys. Moreover, it was possible to establish the annual epidemiological curve of strongyle egg shedding, with June being the month with the highest EPG, December having the lowest EPG and March and September showing intermediate numbers. Overall, a lower biodiversity of gastrointestinal parasites was observed. Cyathostomum sensu lato was the most prevalent genus and Strongylus vulgaris was the most observed large strongyle of the Strongylidae family. Trichostrongylus axei and Parascaris sp. were other nematodes with a minor frequency. The higher prevalence of strongyles at the beginning of the study showed a progressive decrease throughout the research period, and also for parasite biodiversity. Therefore, a targeted selective treatment seems to be a rational anthelminthic control approach in Miranda donkey strongyle infection and in other gastrointestinal parasites, since it reduces the antiparasitic treatments, the parasite’ prevalence and the EPG level. However, a loss of parasite biodiversity was noted at the end of the study period, as Cyathostominae were the only isolated strongyles. This can be a challenging situation in the long run, taking the ability of these nematodes to adapt easily to any deworming program, meaning that fecal EPG monitoring should be kept as a rule to a rational parasite control program.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gastrointestinal Parasitism in Miranda Donkeys: Epidemiology and Selective Control of Strongyles Infection in the Northeast of Portugal

Sousa

Anastácio

Nóvoa³

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…Regarding Strongylidae as the most prevalent parasites, the coprocultures showed parasite infections by 15 different strongylids forms. The proportions of Cyathostominae, Strongylinae and Trichostrongylidae (96.3%, 2.4% and 1.3%, respectively) were in accordance with other research performed with domestic horse parasites (Lopes et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intestinal parasites in Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii): a field survey at the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary

Baptista

Sós²,

Szabados

et al. 2021

J. Helminthol.

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The Pentezug Wildhorse Reserve, located in the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary, has one of the biggest ex situ populations of Przewalski's horses and aims to preserve its landscape and to study this subspecies. Between September and November 2018, 79 faecal samples were collected from Przewalski's horses. The McMaster, Willis flotation, natural sedimentation and coproculture methods were applied to all the samples. Results showed an average level of 1287 eggs per gram (EPG), which is a high faecal egg-shedding level. All the samples were positive for strongyle-type eggs (100%). There were no statistical differences regarding the EPG values between different harems of the population. The same happened when considering sexes, ages, lactating status or when bachelors are compared with harem members. Cyathostominae were dominant, when compared to Strongylinae and Tricostrongylidae, and 15 different morphological infective third-stage larvae types and/or species belonging to the order Strongylida were identified. The subfamily Cyathostominae was prevalent in 100% of the horses. Strongylus vulgaris was the most prevalent strongylin (40.5%). Additionally, 27.8% were positive for Parascaris sp. and 2.5% showed Oxyuris equi in their faeces. This study revealed that there is a higher prevalence of Triodontophorus serratus and Poteriostomum spp. in juveniles. Horses with S. vulgaris showed lower levels of EPG. This was the first study involving this population, showing 100% prevalence of intestinal parasites.

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Distribution, Major Epidemiological Features and Control of Equid Gastrointestinal Parasites in Mainland Portugal

Cited by 2 publications

References 20 publications

Gastrointestinal Parasitism in Miranda Donkeys: Epidemiology and Selective Control of Strongyles Infection in the Northeast of Portugal

Gastrointestinal Parasitism in Miranda Donkeys: Epidemiology and Selective Control of Strongyles Infection in the Northeast of Portugal

Intestinal parasites in Przewalski's horses (Equus ferus przewalskii): a field survey at the Hortobágy National Park, Hungary

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