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Maiti L. C, Chowdhury J, Bose D, Bhattacharya M. Gastrointestinal parasitic infection profile of Bovines and Caprines at Jalpaiguri. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2008;5(1)
Manuscript received on : April 18, 2008
Manuscript accepted on : May 20, 2008
Published online on:  01-03-2016
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Gastrointestinal parasitic infection profile of Bovines and Caprines at Jalpaiguri

Lakshman Chandra Maiti1*,Jayanta Chowdhury1, Debadin Bose2 and Malay Bhattacharya3

1Office of the Deputy Director, Animal Resources Development (Microbiology), Regional Laboratory, (Nayabasti,Near Microwave Tower),Jalpaiguri, West Bengal - 735 101 (India). 2Department of Botany, Ananda Chandra College, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal - 735 101 (India). 3Ambari Falakata C.M. H.S.School, PO- Ambari, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal (India).

ABSTRACT: A total of 3056 faecal samples (1902 from adult cattle, 725 from calves ,174 from buffaloes & 255 from sheep & goats) were collected and examined from April 2002 to March 2006 from different localities in Jalpaiguri District ,West Bengal which owing to its proximity to the hills has climate with heavier rainfall and temperature seldom excessive. Atmosphere is highly humid throughout the year. A total of 1555 (50.88%) samples were found to be positive for different helminthic infections. Paramphistomum sp. (21.2%) were predominant followed by cyst of B.coli (7.6%) . Prevalence of Fasciola sp.,, Gastrothylax sp., Ascaris sp.,, Bunostomum sp., Trichuris sp., Strongyle sp., Strongyloides sp., Metastrongyle sp., Trichostrongyle sp., Oocyst of Eimeria sp.. was 0.5%,3.2%, 4.4%, 0.8%,2.4%, 5.3% , 1.7%, 0.2%, 0.9%, 1.3% respectively. Only 44(1.4%) cases were found positive for mixed helminthic infection out of which the most common cases of mixed infection were of Strongyloides sp. and Paramphistomum sp. Helminthic infection was recorded through out the year with seasonal variation i.e., highest during rainy (66.24%) followed by summer(44.95%) and winter (30.68%) respectively.

KEYWORDS: Gastrointestinal helminths; Cattle; Buffaloes; Goat; Sheep; Prevalence; Jalpaiguri

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Maiti L. C, Chowdhury J, Bose D, Bhattacharya M. Gastrointestinal parasitic infection profile of Bovines and Caprines at Jalpaiguri. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2008;5(1)
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Maiti L. C, Chowdhury J, Bose D, Bhattacharya M. Gastrointestinal parasitic infection profile of Bovines and Caprines at Jalpaiguri. Biosci Biotechnol Res Asia 2008;5(1). Available from: https://www.biotech-asia.org/?p=6864

Introduction

Helminths are multicellular pathogens which infect considerably high proportion of global human and domesticated animal populations. Helminthic infection is a major constraint of livestock and causes great economic losses to dairy industry by way of retarded growth, low productivity and increased susceptibility of animals to other diseases. Inspite of significant production losses, which may run into millions of rupees (Jitendran and Bhat,1999), the problem is persisting because of chronic and insidious nature. The losses due to clinical parasitism can be minimized by early detection and timely initiation of prophylactic measures. The incidence of parasites in cattle and buffalo has been reported from different states of India (Krishna et.al. , 1989, Hirani et.al., 1999; Aggarwal et.al., 2002). In Jammu & Kashmir, the incidence has been reported by Alam et.al.  (1994. and Raina et.al. (1999) . Limited information regarding gastrointestinal helminthic infection in cattle, buffaloes, goat, sheep, for the district of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal is available. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate gastrointestinal helminthic infection profile of cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats at Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal.

Material and Methods

Jalpaiguri district under study lies between 26°16′ and 27°0′ north latitude and between 88°4′ and 89°53′ east longitude situated at North of West Bengal , extending along Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Bhutan International borders. with rivers, ponds and wells as a source of drinking water. Owing to its proximity to the hills it has climate with much heavier rainfall and the temperatures seldom excessive. The cold season is from mid-November to the end of February, followed by the hot season from March to May. The period from June to about beginning of October is the South West monsoon season. October to mid-November constitute the post monsoon season. Average rainfall is 3508 m.m.  per year.

The atmosphere is highly humid throughout the year.

In total 3056 feacal samples (1902 from adult cattle, 725 from calves ,174 from buffaloes & 255 from sheep & goats.collected  randomly over a period of 4 (four. years from April, 2002 to March 2006 distributed in 13 blocks ( i.e., Jalpaigur Sadar, Rajganj, Maynaguri, Dhupguri, Falakata, Malbazar, Nagrakata, Matiali, Madarihat, Kalchini,  Alipuduar-I, Alipurduar-II, Kumargram. in Jalpaiguri District(West Bengal. for laboratory examination. Samples were collected either directly from the rectum or when freshly passed and subjected to direct microscopic examination, as well as floatation (Salt saturated solution. and sedimentation methods ( Soulsby, 1982). Severity of infection was adjudged on the basis of low infection (+), moderate infection (++) and heavy infection (+++), as per Singh and Baxi (1995..Animals under investigation were in semi-covered houses and were mostly maintained on natural vegetation on common grazing lands, wastelands and uncultivated lands.

Results and Discussion

Results of the studies are presented in the Table 1. Out of 3056 samples collected, 1555 (50.88%. were found positive for different helminthic infections. Among various infections, maximum incidence was of Paramphistomum sp. (21.2%) followed by by cyst of B.coli (7.6%).  Other helminthic infections observed were Fasciola sp. (0.5 %), Gastrothylax sp. (3.2%), Ascaris sp. (4.4%), Bunostomum sp. (0.8%), Trichuris sp.(2.4%), Strongyle sp. (5.3%), Strongyloides sp. (1.7%), Metastrongyle sp. (0.2%), Trichostrongyl sp. (0.9%), Oocyst of Eimeria sp.( 1.3%). As many as 44 samples (1.4%) had mixed parasitic infection out of which the most common cases of mixed infection were of Strongyloides sp. and Paramphistomum sp.

Table 1: Prevalence of gastrointestinal helminthic infestation in cattle, buffaloes, goat and sheep of Jalpaiguri District, West.

Season        Animals                   No of                      Trematodes                                                  Nematodes                                                                                 Oocyst
                                                        sample                                                            Total                                                                                                                            Total                      of
                                                        examined                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Eimeria
                                                                                     A              B           C                         D           E           F            G           H                      I                                 J                                              K
Summer      Cattle (Adult)          668                      202          3            17         222       14         3            16         33         10                      –                                 –                            76            9
                      Calf                          246                      13            –             2            15         22         1            4            14         3                      –                                 –                            44            4
                      Buffalo                     47                        2               –             –             2            1            1            –             –             1                      –                                 –                            3               –
                      Goat/Sheep            89                        –                –             –             0            –             –             –             –             –                      –                                 –                            12            –
                      Total                         1050                    217          3            19         239       37         5            21         47         14                      2                                9                           135          13
                      Percent (%)                                          20.7%     0.3%     1.8%     22.8%  3.5%     0.5        2.0%     4.5%                      1.3%                         0.2%                    0.9%        12.9%  1.2%
Rainy            Cattle (Adult)          845                      345          9            68         422       31         11         32         68         23                      –                                 1                           166          13
                      Calf                          302                      25            –             3            28         38         2            11         23         7                      –                                 –                            81            5
                      Buffalo                     76                        7               2            2            11         1            –             1            1            2                      –                                 –                            5               –
                      Goat/Sheep            92                        –                –             –             0            –             2            –             –             –                      3                                12                        17            –
                      Total                         1315                    377          11         73         461       70         15         44         92         32                      3                                13                        269          18
                      Percent (%)                                          28.7%     0.8%     5.6%     35.1%  5.3%     1.1%     3.3%     7.0%                      2.4%                         0.2%                    1.0%        20.5%  1.4%
Winter          Cattle (Adult)          389                      39            1            6            46         9            2            8            17         3                      –                                 –                            39            7
                      Calf                          177                      11            –             –             11         18         1            1            7            2                      –                                 –                            29            2
                      Buffalo                     51                        3               –             –             3            1            –             –             –             –                      –                                 –                            1               –
                      Goat/Sheep            74                        –                –             –             0            –             –             –             –             –                      –                                 7                           7               –
                      Total                         691                      53            1            6            60         28         3            9            24         5                      0                                7                           76            9
                      Percent (%)                                          7.7%        0.1%     0.9%     8.7%     4.1%     0.4%     1.3%     3.5%                      0.7%                         0.0%                    1.0%        11.0%  1.3%
Grand           Cattle (Adult)          1902                    586          13         91         690       54         16         56         118       36                      0                                1                           281          29
Total             Calf                          725                      49            0            5            54         78         4            16         44         12                      0                                0                           154          11
                      Buffalo                     174                      12            2            2            16         3            1            1            1            3                      0                                0                           9               0
                      Goat/Sheep            225                      0               0            0            0            0            2            1            0            0                      5                                28                        36            0
                      Total                         3056                    647          15         98         760       135       23         74         163       51                      5                                29                        480          40
                      Percent (%)                                          21.2%     0.5%     3.2%     24.9%  4.4%     0.8%     2.4%     5.3%                      1.7%                         0.2%                    0.9%        15.7%  1.3%

 

High incidence of parasitism in this area correlates to the findings of Alam et.al.  (1994) and Raina et. al. (1999) at R.S.Pura, Jammu. The present result showed higher prevalence in adult cattle and calves, which are partially in agreement with the result of Banerjee and Agarwal (1992) and Choudhury et.al. (1994). Higher prevalence of Paramphistomum sp. in cattle (adult. and calf was recorded. Higher prevalence of Amphistomiasis in buffaloes (Krishna et.al., 1989) and Fasciolosis in cattle (Singh et.al., 1993) was observed in R.S.Pura. Wallowing habit, easy dispersion of faeces in water and bulk ingestion of grasses near the water sources (marshy land. increase the risk of Paramphistomiasis  due to availability of snail intermediate hosts (Radostitis et.al., 1994). FAO (1994) recommended strategic dosing against fluke diseases in ruminants in India, however non adoption of strategic deworming schedule in the region could be responsible for high parasitic infection.

The higher helminthic infection in rainy season as observed in the present study may be due to increased concentration and/ or contamination of the grazing area by the infective larval stages of the parasites and thus increasing chance of contact between host and larvae. Higher parasitic burden in the host and on pasture during rainy season was also recorded by Sanyal (1998) and Aggarwal et.al. (2002).

Climatic factors also influence the rate of larval movement (Ogbourne, 1972; Croll, 1975). With decrease in temperature, relative humidity and rainfall during winter season, there was a pronounced decrease in helminthic infection. The decrease could be attributed to temporary arrest of larval development for hypobiosis due to adverse climate (Hutchninson et.al., 1972). The short photo period during winter season indirectly reducing the grazing period of animals, thus lowering the chances of helminthic infection.

Among the helminthic infections, the higher prevalence of nematodes (15.7%) could be correlated with the grazing habits of animals. Maximum prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes (20.5%) during the rainy season was recorded and similar findings had been reported by Singh (1991) for Punjab region, Gupta et.al. (1987) 1888. and Garg et.al, (2003) for adjoining regions.

The difference in the prevalence of helminthes may be due to increased population of specific intermediate hosts in the area. Identification of the factors creating conducive environment for propagation of the intermediate hosts in the area   merits further investigation.

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Deputy Director, A.R.D. (Microbiology., Regional Laboratory, Jalpaiguri for providing the necessary laboratory facilities to carry out the present study. The authors are also thankful to Dr. Debashis Biswas Assistant Director, A.R.D.(V.R. & I., District Veterinary Pathological Laboratory, Jalpaiguri for his kind help and co-operation.

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