Gastrointestinal parasites of bile and faeces of slaughtered cattle and sheep from Maiduguri Municipal Abattoir, North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

The occurrence and types of gastrointestinal parasites of bile and faeces of cattle and sheep from the semi-arid region of Maiduguri, North-Eastern Nigeria were determined using standard parasitological techniques. Samples of bile and faeces collected from three hundred and eighty seven (387) cattle and 389 sheep were analysed using bile sedimentation, faecal sedimentation and faecal floatation. An overall prevalence of 42.63% was found in cattle, while 49.36% was in sheep. Results from both species did not vary significantly (p>0.05) based on the sexes, ages and breeds except in sheep, where adult animals were significantly (p˂0.05) infected than the young sheep. Furthermore, 91(23.51%), 13(3.35%) and 84(21.70%) cattle and 15(3.85%), 22(5.65%) and 183(47.04) sheep were positive for one parasite or the other using the bile sedimentation, faecal sedimentation and faecal floatation techniques respectively. In cattle, Fasciola spp was the most predominant parasite recovered with 75(39.89%), followed by strongyle 66(35.11%), Dicrocoelium hospes 23(12.23%) and coccidia 21(11.17%). One animal in each case was infected with Paramphistomum spp. 1(0.53%), and Toxocara vitulorum 1(0.53%). In sheep, Fasciola spp. 24(9.44%), Dicrocoelium hospes 4(1.57%), Paramphistomum spp. 5(1.97), strongyle 75(29.53%), coccidia 140(55.12%), mite egg 1(0.39%), Strongyloides papillosus 2(0.79%) and Moniezia expansa 3(1.18%) were found. Co-infection of two or three parasites in both cattle and sheep was observed with strongyle/coccidia combination being the most frequent. The recovery of parasites of economic and public health significance such as Fasciola spp, Toxocara vitulorum and Strongyloides papillosus indicates that they are abundant and that attention need to be given to their control under ruminant production system. In all, the study had shown the common gastrointestinal parasites found in the study location.

Keywords: Prevalence, Maiduguri, Cattle, Sheep, Parasite