Prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths of Tilapia zilli (Gervias) in Gombe, Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

In order to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths infestation in tilapia species sold in major markets in Gombe, three hundred (300) tilapia fish samples of both sexes and of different age groups were randomly examined. The sample population included 183 adults and 117 juveniles fishes, 157 females and 143 male fishes. Out of the total fishes sampled from three local fish markets, 128 (42.70%) were found to be infested by gastrointestinal helminthes. The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in tilapia fishes sampled from Gombe main market (17.0%), Kwadom market (15.0%) and Gombe old market (10.70%) respectively. Three genera of gastrointestinal parasites were encountered at prevalence rates of nematodes (17.70%), trematodes (13.70%) and cestodes (11.30%). The prevalent rates of these gastrointestinal helminths in accordance to sexes of fish shows higher prevalence in female fishes (24.0%) compared to the male fishes (18.70%). There was no statistical significant difference (P= 0.52) in the prevalent rates among the two sexes of fish. However, considering the prevalent rates of gastrointestinal helminths in accordance to ages of fishes, higher frequency was found in adult tilapia fishes (31.00%) than in the juvenile fishes (11.70%). There was statistical significant difference (P= 0.03) prevalent rates among the two ages of fish. Out of the 128 infected fishes examined, nematodes, cestodes and trematodes were all found in the intestines of 71 (23.70%) infected fishes and also in the stomach of 44 (14.70%) infected fishes but only cestodes was found in the gut of 13 (4.30%) infected fishes, while no helminths was recovered in the gills of all infected fishes. The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in tilapia species may be one of the significant constraints to the maximum productivity of the fish in the study area. It is therefore recommended that tilapia culturists should be enlighten on the need to routinely treat their fishes using appropriate antehelminthics for maximum production. Moreover, fishes meant for human consumption should be well cooked to prevent human health hazard of acquiring fish-borne helminthes infections.

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Ascaridoid Parasites of Philippine Decapterus species

“…This study also harvested the parasites from the abdominal cavity, stomach, and intestine of host fish. This is similar to the findings of various studies showing the gastrointestinal tract to be the preferred site among parasitic helminths (Gosselle et al, 2008;Onyedineke et al, 2010;Dauda et al, 2016). It is important to note that the method implemented for isolation and examination of the parasites was the common routine visual observation coupled with identification based on taxonomic descriptions from previous studies.…”

“…The final sequence alignment for each marker was converted to a PAUP/NEXUS file in Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution (DAMBE) (Xia, 2013). The optimal model of evolution was chosen according to the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) using jModelTest 1 (Darriba et al, 2012). In the 18S final sequence dataset, the TrNeF + G model (Tamura and Nei, 1993) was implemented involving 34 nucleotide sequences, with a total of 628 positions.…”

Gastrointestinal helminths in tilapia (<i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>) sold for human consumption in Maiduguri, Nigeria: A potential public health risk

“…The obtained prevalence was relatively higher than the 18.7% reported by Biu & Nkechi (2013) in the same study area. It is, however, lower than the 42.7% reported by Dauda et al (2016). The differences in the prevalence of helminths in the present study and the results of previous studies may be due to differences in the aquatic origin of fishes and changes in the epidemiology of parasitic infections due to the influence of environmental variables and time passage.…”

“…The result agrees with Uhuo et al (2014), who reported Acanthocephalans as the dominant helminths in tilapia. However, unlike this finding, Dauda et al (2016) reported nematodes as the dominant helminth. The prevalence and intensity of helminthiasis in tilapia depend on parasite species and their biology, the feeding habits of the host, physical factors, hygiene of the aquatic environment, and the presence of intermediate host species (Olurin et al, 2012;Nimbalkar & Deolalikar, 2015).…”

“…Symptoms of fish zoonotic disease in humans range from subclinical fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and weight loss (Koinari et al, 2013). In the literature, some workers in Northeastern Nigeria have previously documented preliminary reports on the occurrence of gastrointestinal helminths in tilapia fish from Borno and neighbouring Gombe States (Biu & Nkechi, 2013;Dauda et al, 2016). Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the current prevalence and risk factors (sex, age, and location) associated with gastrointestinal helminth infection in the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fish sold for human consumption in Maiduguri metropolis council, Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria.…”