Gastrointestinal helminth infections in small-scale dairy cattle farms of Jimma town, Ethiopia

Abstract

A crossectional survey was carried out from November 2008 to April 2009 to determine
and describe the prevalence and intensity of gastrointestinal parasite infections in small
holder dairy cattle farms of Jimma town, Ethiopia. A total of 210 faecal samples were
examined by modified Mc-Master slide and 163 (77.6%) of them were found to contain at
least one gasterointestinal helminth parasite egg. The most prevalent gastrointestinal
helminth parasite eggs detected were Paramphistomum (48.6%), Strongylidae (32.4%),
Fasciola (23.3%), Moniezia (5.2%), Strongyloid (3.3%), Toxocara vitulorum (2.4%), Trichuris
(1.9%), Capillaria (1.4%) and Nematodirus (0.9%) in decreasing order. The overall infection
rates for nematode, cestode, trematode and mixed infections were 42.3%, 5.2 %, 71.9% and
19.7, respectively. The overall prevalence of gasterointestinal helminth infection was high
in October (81.3%) and low in February (52.4%). A significant variation was observed in
the prevalence of Toxocara vitulorum between young (7.01%) and adult animals (0.6%). The
mean egg count was generally moderate (319.4 ± 62.3 per g of faeces). Intensity of
strongyle infection in terms of epg showed no variations when different ages, body
conditions, breeds and lactation conditions are compared. However, a higher epg count
was observed between female and male animals. The genera of strongyles identified were
Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Strongyloides, Oesophagostomum, Bunostomum and Cooperia.
In conclusion, gasterointestinal helminth parasites are problems in small holder dairy
farms in Jimma town. Future studies are required to evaluate the economic impact of
helminth parasites and to formulate appropriate deworming practices that can be applied
in order to alleviate the problem of worm burden in the study area.