Study on the prevalence of gastro intestinal parasites of economic importance in cattle in Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was conducted to find out the prevalence of parasites of economic
importance in cattle in the hilly and the coastal areas of Bangladesh. A total of 1200 fecal samples were collected from the study areas in three consecutive seasons (winter, summer and rainy). Fecal samples were examined by routine coproscopic method. The effects of topography, season, age, breed, gender on prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites were analyzed in this study. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infections was recorded as 35.33% and 36.16% in hilly areas and coastal areas respectively. A significantly (P<0.05) higher prevalence of parasitic infections was found in the summer (43.00%) followed by rainy (32.50%) and winter (31.75%). The prevalence of parasitic infection was significantly (P<0.05) higher in crossbred cattle (36.99%) than the indigenous cattle (35.58%), while -female had higher prevalence (36.03%) than the male animals (34.95%). A wide range of parasites were recorded during the study periods. Among them the prevalence of Paramphistomum (24.42%) were more common followed by Strongyles (4.25%), Strongyloides (3.08%), Toxocara (2.83%), Fasciola (2.50%), cyst of Balantidium coli (1.90%), Trichuris (1.20%), Coccidia (0.50%), Schistosoma (0.25%) and Moniezia (0.16%).According to percent (%) of positive cases identified, it was found that Paramphistomum spp was the most prevalent parasites in both the hilly and the coastal area and its extent of infection vary significantly (P<0.05) due to variation in topography. Similar significant (P<0.05) topographical variation was also found in the infection with Fasciola spp, Toxocara spp and strongyles parasites.