Adoun, S. O.
ABSTRACT
A survey on the incidence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites of goats at slaughter in Hayin Dogo Abattoir was carried out between May and June 2007. A total of 105 faecal samples of goats consisting of 66 males and 39 females were examined for the presence of the gastrointestinal helminth parasites eggs, using the simple floatation and sedimentation methods respectively. Out of the total 105 faecal samples collected 70 were infected while 35 were uninfected. Four different types of gastrointestinal helminth parasite eggs were found to represent species of the following genera:
Moniezia, Strongyle, Strongyloides and Trichuris. And they were encountered in 20.95%, 54.29%, 2 1.91% and 5.7 1% of the faecal samples respectively. The most prevalent parasite was Strongyle which occurred at
54.29% and the least encountered was Trichuris at 5.7 1%. The survey showed that female goats were more infected (76.92%) than the male goats (60.61%). The results also show that multiple infections were common. Out of the total 105 faecal samples examined, 70(66.67%) were infected with one parasite eggs or the other.
Introduction
The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites constitute a serious impediment to small animal production in Nigeria by causing high mortality and low production in flocks. This is of great significance in the north — eastern part of the country where the bulk of ruminants in Nigeria is reared.
Animal protein consumption by the average Nigerian is very low (Olayide et al.,1972) (Gefu,1982). Beef constitutes the major source of meat consumed in Nigeria. Recently beef has become very expensive causing a shift to small ruminants particularly goats (Ojo, 1992). This in turn has led to massive increase in the number of goats raised in the country.
Despite the economic and nutritious significance of goats to Nigerians, production practices have made these animals to be highly susceptible to diverse kinds of infections. Work done by (Ojo, 1992) agree with this statement. Of the diseases encountered during his survey were; pneumonia, coccidiosis, tuberculosis, staphylococcus etc, at various percentages of occurrence.
Gastrointestinal helminth parasites in goats on which my work is based occurred in 17.52% of total 7644 goats examined during the course of that study. Helminthes is the coinage from the Greek word Helmins or Helminthos which literally means a worm.
Helminth parasites are divided into three phyla; namely: phylum platyhelminthes (Flatworms), phylum nemathelminthes (round worm) and phylum acanthocephale (spiny headed worm). These phyla are further divided into various classes; some being parasitic and of medical, and veterinary importance while some are free living. It is only cestodes and trematodes that are of veterinary importance from the phylum platyhelminthes. The only class of worm from nemathelminthes is the nematode which is also parasitic, the acanthocephalan phylum consists of the class spiny headed worms. This was reported by Noble and Noble 1962; Lamber, 1971 and cited by pukumah in 1985.
Most helminth parasites reside in the gastro intestinal tract where they are sheltered and obtained their nourishment. Their parasitic mode of life has an adverse effect on the host animal. These effects arise due to the fact that they feed on the digested food of the animal and sometimes on the blood, as is the case with the blood flukes. Some of the symptoms associated with gastrointestinal helminth parasites are: destruction of liver parenchyma, dead liver tissue and general condemnation of the liver of slaughtered animals. Spleenomegaly, unthriftiness, emaciation, voracious appetite, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and even the eventual death of the animal (Pukumah, 1985; Abubakar, 2002).
There is general acceptance that infection with helminthes coincides with the prevalence of certain climatic conditions such as rainfall, relative humidity and high temperature. There is a record of high incidence with gastrointestinal helminth parasites during the rainy season, and this season is known to have high temperature and relative humidity. The various works done either on mono-infections or multiple infections with the parasites support this claim (Fabiyi, 1969; Omale, 1991 and Abubakar, 2002).
Aims of the study
i. To carry out a survey on the incidence of gastrointestinal helminth parasites in goats slaughtered at Hayin Dogo abattoir.
ii. To be able to predict if the way goat are reared in Zaria is standard
iii. And also to make known the level of inspections animals undergo before slaughter.
Justification of the study
In order to effectively control disease in goats it is of utmost importance to have a record of disease commonly encountered in a place.
Survey in abattoirs are an excellent means of knowing the prevalent ruminant diseases in an area.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study area
The study area was Hayin Dogo abattoir, Zaria. It is located within Samaru metropolis. The choice of this site was due to its proximity with ABU Main campus and small ruminants were mostly slaughtered there.
Another major reason for the choice of this slaughter site is because animals are slaughtered without inspection whatsoever.
It is also worthy of note that this abattoir is not a slaughter house but a slaughter slab. Most of the meats for suya are slaughtered there. Pepper soup meat in Samaru restaurants are also gotten from this site.
The study period extended from early week of May to second week of June. Collection was made twice in a week mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Collection procedure
Faeces were collected from the rectum of the goats that were brought for slaughter. The faeces are put in a separate polythene bags which were masked with a tape. The number and sex of the goat is then noted on the polythene bag. The sample were then immediately taken to the laboratory for examination.
The faeces were then examined for the presence of parasites eggs and Oocysts. The method employed is the simple floatation technique (Dipeolu and Sellers, 1975; Coles, 1974; Jeffeiy 1995). Simple floatation is based on the observation that helminth eggs will float to the surface of the floatation medium which has a higher specific gravity than the eggs. And the other technique employed is the sedimentation method for the detection of trematode eggs, the modified method of Dennis, stone and Swanson (1954) was used as cited by Abubakar(2006)
Examination procedure of the faeces
Simple floatation
About 2-3g of the faeces is poured into a centrifuge tube. And ZnSO4 sucrose (floatation medium) is added to the faeces to almost 2/3 of its volume. A glass / rubber rod is then used to break the faeces-which in most cases is in pellets. After a homogenous mixture is obtained, it is then sieved through a sieve placed on a test-tube. The coarse debris is then trapped on a gauze. The floatation media is then added to the filterate and filled to the brim, until a convex meniscus is formed on the test-tube. A cover slip is placed on it and left for about 3 minutes.
After about 3 minutes the cover slip is then pulled gently from the test tube and placed on a slide, which is now ready for viewing. Two coverslip are placed per slide for examination. The examination of the prepared slides is done under the low power magnification of a compound microscope.
Sedimentation method
4g of the faeces is thoroughly broken and mixed in a centrifuge tube using a rod by adding appropriate quantity of distilled water. The mixture is sift into a specimen bottle. Distilled water is then added to the filterate and filled to the brim. This is then left for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes the supernatant is decanted and the sediment is ready for examination.
A Pasteur pipette is used to collect the sediment and placed on slide. It is then examined under the low power objective of the compound microscope.
Each individual species of the helminth parasites is recognizable by the characteristics of its eggs. Sizes, shape, colour, nature of shell (thickness) stage in development, appearance of embryo if present, and presence or absence of operculum were the bases on which identification were made (Pukumah, 1985).
But in a situation where the examination of the collected faeces is not possible. Immediately 10% formaline is added to hinder further development of the eggs and kept in a cupboard or the sample can be placed in a refrigerator until there is a convenient time for examination.
RESULTS
A total of 105 faecal samples from 66 males and 39 female goats were examined in the laboratory. Four different types of eggs of parasitic helminthes were identified. These eggs represented parasitic helminthes such as Moniezia, Strongyle, Strongyloides and Trichuris as summarized in table
The parasites eggs encountered were in the following proportions Moniezia (20.95%), Strongyle (54.29%) Strongyloides (21.91%) and Trichuris (5.7 1%) during the course of the survey. The parasites with the highest percentage of occurrence were the Strongyle parasites (5 4.29%) and the least encountered parasites were the Trichuris sp. which occurred at 5.71%.
Strongyle parasites were the most common parasites found on males and females. In male goats Strongyle parasites were found to have the highest infection rate, at 48.49% while the least infection encountered was 6.6% in Trichuris (Table 3.1).
Table 3.2 indicates that in females too, Strongyle parasites had the highest level of infection.
All four parasites were found in goats but infection with the various gastrointestinal helminth parasites varied. The nature of the parasitism was also seen to range from single to triple infections, 3 5.24% (37) goats were found to have single infection, 24.76% (26) had double infection and triple infection was only recorded in 5.71%(6) of the goats, as summarized in table
Another interesting observation was that in most double infections a Strongyle and Strongyloides combination was the most prevalent parasitism (Table 4.0). The duration of this work was from May to the second week of June, as shown in appendix I. During the first few visits to the abattoir, the samples collected were seen to have low infection with parasites but as the rainy season progressed, there was a slight increase in the number of parasites observed, particularly the Strongyle parasites.
Throughout the period of the survey, there was an amazing number of coccidian Oocyst observed regularly. In most cases the occurrence of the coccidian Oocyst per sample was very intense (Appendix I). Apart from the coccidian Oocyst, no any other incidental observation on parasites was made. No stage of Fasciola parasite was observed.
The range of parasitic helminth infectious is shown in Table 4: Single infection occurred at 35.24%, double infection 24.76% and triple infection at 5.71%. This makes single infections to be the most prevalent. And in the single infections, infection with Strongyle appeared to be the highest. With 27 goats infected with Strongyle.
DISCUSSION
While a high incidence of Strongyle parasites was recorded, a moderate incidence of Moniezia sp. and Strongyloides sp. was observed, but Trichuris sp. was relatively uncommon. The high incidence of Strongyle parasites observed in this study is similar to the result of the work done by Nwosu et. al (1992) on red Sokoto goats slaughtered in Ibadan abattoirs. An interesting feature of the work by Nwosu et al. was the high incidence of Strongyloides and Trichuris; in the present survey, the former occurred moderately while the latter occurred sparingly.
About 66.67% of the total number of goats sampled had one form of the helminth parasites or the other (Table 1). The results of the survey revealed that the goats slaughtered at Hayin Dogo abattoir were infected with four different types of gastrointestinal helminth parasites namely Strongyle, Strongyloides, Moniezia and Trichuris.
The high incidence of these parasites can be attributed to the suggestion that goats do not build up sufficient immunity against these parasites (Radostits et al., 2000). Another possible reason for this high incidence was due to the fact that the period when the survey was carried out coincided with the late dry season in Zaria metropolis (May) and towards the work of Nwosu et al. (1992), which opined that regardless of the age of the goats, there is higher infection, generally encountered during the rainy season than in the dry season.
Abubakar, U .(2002) and Abubakar, H. (2006) reported that fascioliasis is a disease that affects cattle, sheep and goats. In addition the work by Omale (1991) revealed similar findings; that all sorts of grazing animals are affected by fascioliasis. However, during the course of the present investigation there was no single case of fascioliasis recorded. This findings is similar to that by Dauda (2004) who reported that trematode infections appeared to have the lowest occurrence among the helminth parasites.
In table 3.1 and 3.2, Strongyle parasites have the highest level of occurrence in both the males and females while Trichuris sp. has the lowest occurrence. This gives the impression that Strongyle parasites are the most prevalent helminth parasites in goats around Zaria.
Dauda (2004) reported that nematodes are the most important helminth parasites affecting ruminants in Nigeria.
In terms of the range of parasitism, single infection was the most prevalent among the animals examined. This was followed by double infection and then by triple infections. The reason for this is, there tend to be or antagonism among different species of parasites; i.e. when a particular parasite first occupies a microhabitat (a host) it prevents other from doing so.
And lastly, the high incidence of these parasites in the surveyed goats could be due to the fact that most people prefer slaughtering their sick goats, instead of treating them at veterinary centres. During the period of this work, several animals that were brought for slaughter were sickly; mostly with diarrhea and looking emaciated. And coccidian oocyst were also seen in a very high proportion. According to Radostits et al. (2000), the occurrence of coccidiosis is cosmopolitan and it is considered to be one of the most important diseases affecting goats kept under intensive husbandry.
Due to lack or insufficient veterinary medical surveillance, there is bound to be a lot of parasitic infection showing up in ruminants such as goats.
Problems
The major problem seen in this slaughter slab was lack of inspection whatsoever. The goats brought for slaughter were not inspected in any way. Even when such animals show signs of sickness, the butchers still go ahead to slaughter the animals.
Another problem observed was lack of proper water supply. The water at the slaughter site, was from a stagnant pool that was strapped from the rain. The butchers always made use of this water for washing the slaughtered animals.
Recommendations
The butchers and goats (ruminants) traders should be properly educated and enlightened on the importance of proper inspection of goats (animals) before slaughter. Though this slaughter site is obscure, but most suya and pepper soup joints in Samaru have their meat supply from there. Therefore, a clean source of water should be provided to the slaughter slab by the local government. Also the goats (animals) traders and butchers should be encouraged to seek for veterinary assistance for their sick animals before selling or slaughtering them.
It is also imperative that the veterinary teaching hospital and its faculty embark on awareness and education campaign on animal health in all the slaughter houses in Zaria and its environs.
And lastly, a further work is suggested to be carried out to ascertain if there is sex relation on the level of infection between male and female goats.
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