Efficacy of Levamisole, Piperazine and their Combination in the Control of Gastrointestinal Worms in Guinea Fowl

Abstract

Guinea fowl production is gaining prominence in Ghana and the major health problems associated is helminthosis. However, studies on the use of anthelmintics in guinea fowl had been scanty in literature despite research into more effective drug strategies in controlling helminth infections in poultry. This study was carried out to compare the efficacy of piperazine, levamisole and their combination in the control of gastrointestinal worms from August- December 2019. Six-thousand-layer guinea fowls were divided into four groups (1, 2, 3 and 4). Group 1 was treated with piperazine at 100g/100 L of water, Group 2 with levamisole at 100g/200 L of water, Group 3 with a combination of levamisole and piperazine and Group 4 was the control group. All treatments were  administered via water medication and the control group was offered plain water. Faecal samples were collected before and after treatment from each bird. Faecal egg count reduction (FECR) rate was determined for each group. Predominant helminth infections from pre- treatment faecal examinations were Ascaridia galli 100 (60.24 %) which was the highest, followed by Heterakis gallinarum 43 (25.90%), Strongyloides avium 15 (9.04%), Raillietina echinobothridia 7 (4.22) and Syngamus trachea 1 (0.6%). Reduction was statistically significant, p-value ˂ 0.0001 at confidence interval of 95%. The percentage reduction in faecal egg count was 143 (35.75%) for piperazine treatment group, 172 (43%) for levamisole treatment group, 350 (87.50%) for piperazine- levamisole  combination group and 4 (1.05%) for the control group. The use of piperazine-levamisole combination was more efficacious and recommended in the control of gastrointestinal nematodes in guinea fowl.