Review of <i>Paramphistomum cervi</i> infection prevalences among slaughtered-cattle in some selected abattoirs of Imo State

Abstract

Paramphistomiasis, a tropical disease of ruminants has been of serious veterinary concern especially in the eastern part of Nigeria. Investigations on the feces of cattle from randomly selected abattoirs in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria namely Afor Egbu, Afor Enyiogugu, Afor Ajala and Afor Ogbe Abattoirs were carried out for the prevalence of paramphistomiasis between October, 2014 to December 2015, using direct smear, formal either concentration and sodium chloride floatation techniques: Examination of livers and whole gut of slaughtered cattle were examined for adults flukes, feacal sample collection, identification of eggs and egg counts, were carried out using 10 eye piece, identification of P. cervi eggs was carried out and sex of cattle was recorded. Ages were determined by the dentition of cattle, young cattle (<2 years] and old cattle (>2 years). Out of 2,900 cattle examined, 467 (16.1%) were infected. Infection was highest in Afor Ogbe Abattoir with 247 (14.8) followed by Oriagu 71 (23.1%) followed by Afor Ajala 65 (15.6) and Egbu 50 (15.8%) and lastly Afor Enyiogugu with 34 (17.8]. Intensity of infection was slightly higher in males than in females. Age was significantly a factor, as the infection was age dependent Adult cattle (>2 years) had more infections than younger ones (<2 years), thus (16.1 %) adults were infected while (7.5 %) young cattle were infected. Infection was found to be season dependent and rose with increased rainfall with decline during the dry season months. Total number of parasite collected was 1491 and mean worm load (XWLD) was 28.17. This result therefore underscores the need for adequate disease control and vector snail habitat elimination programme in the area.

Keywords: Paramphistomiasis; worms; slaughtered-cattle; abattoir; environment