Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of buffalo at Mongla , Bagerhat

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in buffaloes at Mongla in Bagerhat of Bangladesh from July to November, 2014. A total of 213 buffaloes were examined for GI parasites by using Stoll’s ova counting technique. The data demonstrated that all animals were found to be infected with one or more gastrointestinal parasites. Five species of gastrointestinal parasites were identified. Among them two species were trematodes, Fasciola gigantica (24.41%) and Amphistomes (78.40%); two species were nematodes, Haemonchus contortus (29.58) and Toxocara vitulorum (18.78%); one species was protozoa, Balantidium coli (80.28%). No cestode was detected. Mixed gastrointestinal parasitic infection was common. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in relation to age, sex, nutritional status and season were studied. All age groups of buffaloes were susceptible to infection. Males and females were equally infected with gastro-intestinal parasites. It was also detected that, nutritional status of buffaloes had no significant (p>0.05) effect on gastro-intestinal parasitic infection. There was no seasonal variation in case of parasitic infections. In this study, EPG/CPG (Egg/cyst Per Gram of Feces) was determined that ranged from 100-2100 among the identified parasites. The study revealed that the prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasites in buffaloes is very common.