Cross-sectional survey of helminthiasis in buffaloes at Tehsil Jatoi and Tehsil Muzaffar Garh, Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

In the four year study from 2009 to 2013, a total of 500 faecal samples from buffaloes from different locations of Tehsil Jatoi and Tehsil Muzaffar Garh, Southern Punjab were analyzed to confirm the presence of gastrointestinal parasitic infection. The recovered parasites were five nematodes viz Toxocara vitulorum (16.6%), Oesophagostomum radiatum (3.2%), Bunostomum phlebotomum (1.6%), Cooperia spp. (1.6%), Trichostrongylus spp. (0.8%). The two trematodes were Fasciola hepatica (8.4%), Paramphistomum cervi (15%). Age-wise prevalence was 79.5% and 47% in buffalo calf and adult buffalo, while sex-wise prevalence was 78.4% and 50.93% in male and female buffalo, respectively. Chi-square statistical design was applied to data to know the dependence of helminth’s prevalence on sex and age of animals.