Abstract:
The present study was carried out in horses stabled at Government Farm Sargodha during 201819 to determine the prevalence of Gastro-intestinal parasites and their effect on haematological indices. For this purpose, 90 horses of different ages were randomly selected and divided into three groups of 30 horses each viz Group A (under 5 years of age), Group B (5 to 10 years of age) and Group C (above 10 years of age). Coprological examination was carried out for the presence of parasites/ova and haematology of non-infested and infested horses were carried out to determine the blood parameters. Overall 43.33% (39/90) horses were found infested with highest proportion of Parascaris equorum as 33.33% (13/39) followed by Oxyuris equi 25.64% (10/39), Strongylus vulgaris 17.95% (7/39), Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus 12.82% (5/39) and mixed infestation as 10.26% (4/39). Highest infestation (60%, 18/30) was found in Group C with maximum proportion of Parascaris equorum (30%, 9/30) followed by Oxyuris equi (23.33%, 7/30). Moderate infestation (40%, 12/30) was recorded in Group A with highest proportion of Parascaris equorum (13.33%, 4/30) and Oxyuris equi (13.33%, 4/30) followed by Strongylus vulgaris (10%, 3/30). Group B was found least infested (30%, 9/30) with highest proportion of Parascaris equorum (13.33%, 4/30) followed by Oxyuris equi (10%, 3/30) and Strongylus vulgaris (10%, 3/30). Significantly high prevalence in group C is attributed to the old age. The study established a direct correlation of infestation with drop in TEC, Hb and PCV. The values of TEC, Hb and PCV shown significant difference between infested and non-infested animals within groups but shown no significant difference among infested animals of all three groups.
Page(s):
27-34
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Journal of Agricultural Research, Volume: 58, Issue: 1, Year: 2020
Keywords:
Pakistan
,
TLC
,
Haematology
,
GIT infestation
,
TEC
,
PCV