Prevalence and intensity of <i>paramphistomatidae</i> fluke species in ruminants slaughtered in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

Helminth infections of ruminants are a major threat to livestock industries in tropical and subtropical countries of the world. This study was carried out to  determine the prevalence of paramphistomosis in cattle and goats slaughtered in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A total of 230 ruminants (150 cattle  and 80 goats) were subjected to routine post mortem examination for the presence of Paramphistomum species. The overall prevalence of  Paramphistomum infection in the ruminants was 52.61%, with prevalence of 62.6% and 33.7% in cattle and goats respectively. There was no significant  difference (p>0.05) in prevalence between sexes of the animals in both cattle and goats. Cattle [94, 62.6%] had higher infection than goats [27, 33.7%].  Female cattle (81.8%) were more infected than male cattle (61.2%) (x² = 0.054; p = 0.816) while female goats (39.5%) were more infected than males  (25.0%) (x² = 1.232, p = 0.267). The overall mean intensity was 195.23 and 112.83 were observed for cattle and goats respectively. Prevalence and  intensity of infection were breed specific for cattle and goats. Red Bororo had the highest prevalence (70.6%) and intensity of 226.5 than the other breeds  of cattle examined while the Yankasa breed had the highest prevalence (39.3%) and intensity of 178.5, than the other breeds of goat examined. In view of  the high prevalence of paramphistomosis observed in this study, it is imperative that farmers be adequately educated on the health challenges posed by  this parasite on the productivity of their ruminants.