Epidemiological Analysis of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Various Breeds of Cattle in the Northern Region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Gastrointestinal Parasites in Various Breeds of Cattle in the Northern Region

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) parasites are a major problem in cow production worldwide. Objectives: To determine how common gastrointestinal parasites are in cattle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan's District Lower Dir. Methods: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's District Lower Dir, a cross-sectional descriptive design was used. Three hundred cow fecal samples were taken, and they were examined under a microscope as well as using the sedimentation and flotation techniques. To determine the impacts of breed, age, parity, eating habits, deworming status, and herd size, the data were subjected to a Chi-square test using SPSS. Overall, 67.3% of faecal samples were positive for GI parasites. Results: The parasites were more prevalent (41.6% each) in the Friesian and Jersey breeds. Endo-parasitic infection was higher (92.6%; p=0.04) in female cattle than in male. Less than 2 years’ cattle had a higher (75.2%; p=0.101) incidence of GI parasite. Cattle reared in a mixed feeding system had a higher (91.1%; p=0.245) incidence rate of parasitic infection. Herd of ≤5 animals had 72.3% positive samples, and 6-8 animals per herd had 27.7% positive samples. Also, cattle which doesn’t receive any anthelmintic drugs had a higher (53%; p=0.988) incidence rate of GI parasites than those that received anthelmintic drugs (47%). Taxocara vitulorum prevalence was high (46%) in single parasitic infestation, while Taxocara vitulorum + Haemonchus contortus were higher (34.6%) in double parasitic infection. Haemonchus + Taxocara + Fasciola spp were detected more (33.3%) in triple parasitic infection. Conclusions: It was concluded that the cattle population in Lower Dir had the highest prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites and needed effective control measures to enhance productivity.