Study on the Prevalence of GIT Nematodes on Bovine in and aroundKombolcha and Dessie Town, North Eastern, Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross sectional study was carried out from November 2014 to April 2015 to determine the prevalence of bovine gastrointestinal tract (GIT) nematodes and associated risk factors by using flotation technique and fecal culture in and around Kombolcha and Dessie town. Out of 384 bovines examined for GIT nematodes, 160 (41.7%) animals were found positive for single or mixed GI nematode infection. The findings of fecal examination revealed eggs of Strongyle, Ascaris and Trichuris type were identified. Cattle harboring single-parasite eggs (83.75%) were more common than those harboring mixed eggs (16.25%) type. The major nematode genera identified by fecal culture were Oesophagostomum (11.5%), Bunostomum (7.0%), Trichuris (5.5%), Stronglyloides (2.6%), Haemonchus (2.9%), Trichostrongylus (2.6%), Toxocara (1.6%) and Ostertagia (1.3%). The prevalence of gastrointestinal nematode infection showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between sex, age, breed, body conditions, management and origin of the animals. In conclusion, the present study has revealed the presence of GIT nematodes which have significant impact on the health and production of the cattle's in the study area. Therefore, further studies on species identification and seasonal epidemiology of these parasites should be carried out.

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

“…Finally, our results for Strongyloides spp. are in line with some studies [13,32,34,36], while other studies did not find this parasite [5,10,12,[37][38][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].…”

“…In fact, it is in line with the results of the few studies conducted in cattle in Ethiopia [2][3][4]12] and in similar tropical countries, such as Zimbabwe [45], India [43,46] and Pakistan [42]. However, there were other reports in Ethiopia [34,35] that indicated a lower prevalence for Haemonchus, generally under 3%, but the estimation methods were not clearly described in most papers, as previously underlined. It would be interesting in the future to investigate which factor, among the management system, topography, deworming practices and climatic condition, mostly favors the different genera of strongyles.…”

“…A higher prevalence of Coccidia was found in animals with a poor BCS too, but this association was weaker. The association between a poor BCS and a high GIS burden was already reported in many studies in Ethiopia [2,4,11,12,34,37]. Although a poor body condition can be due to different factors, such as malnutrition, other concurrent disease or environmental stress, a parasitic infection is surely contributing to the worsening of the health status, leading to a poor immunological response.…”

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Lungworm Infection in Small Ruminants in Selected Districts of Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…Comparatively, this study documented lower prevalence than the reports of Alemu et al [ 13 ], Abera et al [ 26 ], and Fesseha and Mathewos [ 27 ] who reported overall prevalence of lungworm infection in small ruminants: 53.60%, 57.6%, and 44.02%, in Asella province, in Bale and Arsi zones, and in Durame District, southern Ethiopia, respectively. The results of this study, on the other hand, showed a relatively higher prevalence compared to reports of Asaye and Alemneh [ 28 ] (22.71% in Bahir Dar City, Amhara Region, Ethiopia) and Borji et al [ 10 ] (10.85% in Mashhad of northeast Iran). The climate, altitude, intermediate hosts, favorable ecological conditions, the sheep and goat management systems of the respective study areas for the development of lungworm species, differences in the sample sizes used during the various investigations, seasonal variation during the investigation period, variation in the nutritional status of the small ruminants, and other factors may all contribute to the variation in the overall prevalence of lungworm infections in small ruminants across the study sites.…”