Helminth parasites in the intestinal tract of indigenous poultry in parts of Kenya : short communication

Abstract

A study was carried out on 456 indigenous poultry intestinal specimens from various towns in Kenya to determine the occurrence and distribution of helminth parasites in the intestinal tract of the birds. Of the specimens examined, 414 had parasites whereas the remaining 42 had none, which is an infection rate of 90.78 %. The main species of helminths found in the intestines were Raillietina sp. (47.53 %), Heterakis gallinarum (21.33 %), Ascaridia galli (10.03 %), Strongyloides avium (9.96 %), Choanotaenia infundibulum (4.61 %), Cotugnia digonopora (3.6 %), Capillaria sp. (1.5 %), Trichostrongylus tenius (1.04 %) and Syngamus trachea (0.40 %). Most helminths were present in both the mid- and hindguts. Syngamus trachea and C. digonopora were only found in the foregut and midgut, respectively. Although chickens from which the specimens were collected appeard healthy, the high prevalence of helminthiasis observed shows the poor level of helminth infection control practiced by the indigenous poultry keepers in the country, which might affect the health status of the birds and their growth rates. Poultry keepers should be encouraged to prevent, control and treat such cases

Gastrointestinal helminths and their predisposing factors in different poultry management systems; Haromaya, Ethiopia

“…Even though coproscopic examination is less sensitive to diagnose than adult worms count, high prevalence of parasite was observed, which indicates that GIT parasites were a problem in the study area and there was no experience of providing prophylactic measure to control helminths. Similar findings of A. galli and H. gallinarum followed by cestode spp were recorded by (Permin et al, 1997;Birhanu Mekibib et al, 2014), but high cestode spp followed by nematodes recovered by Irungu et al, (2004). Only A. galli spp and different cestode spp have been identified in semi-intensive management system at Debre Zeit agricultural research center by (Yacob Hailu and Hagos Ashenafi, 2013).…”

“…The finding of the present study is higher than 33.5% reported by (Irungu et al, 2004) in South Eastern Kenya. The difference in prevalence might be due to management and agro-climatic variation in the two study areas.…”

“…Heterakis gallinarum was recorded as the second most prevalent nematode species in this study. It was lower when compared with that of (Irungu et al, 2004) in Kenya (21.3%), (Hagos Ashenafi and Eshetu Yimer, 2002) in the central Ethiopia (24%). This may be due to differences in management (Indoor, outdoor, feeding, bedding etc) and favorable condition for the survival and transmission of infective larval stages as well as availability of intermediate hosts.…”

Study of Gastro-Intestinal Parasites of Scavenging Chickens in Fako Division, Southwest Cameroon

“…Moreover, it has been reported that parasitic infections or their concurrent infections result in immunosuppression, especially in response to vaccines against some poultry diseases (Anne, 2006). Studies in some countries have shown that the prevalence of parasitic infestations in village chicken flocks is very high ranging from 50 to close to 100% (Irungu et al, 2004, Mungube et al, 2008, Nnadi and George, 2010, and in most cases individual birds habour more than one parasite type (Thrusfield, 2005).…”

Afyonkarahisar Bölgesi Tavuklarında Mide-Bağırsak Helmintlerinin Yayılışı

“…reported the prevalence of 2% in Ghana, Irungu et al 16 1.04% in Kenya and Magwisha et al 29 found 7% prevalence in adult chickens in Tanzania. Güçlü 25 found T. tenuis as 1% in Ankara.…”