Endoparasites of donkeys in Dessie and its surroundings, Northeastern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted from November, 2014 to April, 2015 in
Dessie, northeastern Ethiopia to estimate the prevalence of endoparasites and
associated risk factors. For this purpose 504 fecal samples were collected from
the selected donkeys. Coproscopic examination showed an overall prevalence of
80.1% (405/504) gastrointestinal helminthes. Among the helminthes, the strongyle
type nematodes (80.1%) were the dominant ones followed by Parascaris equorum
(41.8%) while Anaplocephala spp. was the least identified helminthes. Strongyle
spp. was highly prevalent in adult (84.2%) than old (78.8%) and young (72%) age
groups (p=0.025). On the contrary P. equorum was highly prevalent in young animals (62.6%) (p=0.000) while there was no significant difference in prevalence of Fasciola spp and G. egypticus among age groups (p=0.000). Most 43.1% of donkeys were severely infected. Of these donkeys 49.5% (47/174) were with poor body conditions. Coprocultural examination revealed that (100%) of Cyathostomes spp. and Strongylus vulgaris and (94%) of Trichostrongylus axei, (44.0%)  Strongloides westeri and Dictyocaulus arnfieldi. The higher prevalence of parasitosis in working donkeys in Dessie and its surroundings requires appropriate strategic parasitic control methods.

Keywords: Coproculture, Coproscopy, Dessie, Helminthes, Prevalence, Risk factors