International Journal of Livestock Research ISSN 2277 ... - eJManager

International Journal of Livestock Research ISSN 2277-1964 ONLINE

Vol 4(9) Dec’14

Parasitic Gastro – Enteritis in Donkeys (Equines asinus) – A Report M. Raman1, M.G.Jayathangaraj2*, K.Senthilkumar3 and K.Senthilvel4 Department of Wildlife Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu-600 007 INDIA 1, 4

– Professor, 2 Professor and Head, 3Assistant Professor

*Corresponding author: [email protected] Rec.Date:

Sep 24, 2014 03:09

Accept Date:

Nov 17, 2014 07:53

Published Online:

December 24, 2014

DOI

10.5455/ijlr.20141117075301

Abstract Dung samples collected from Twenty eight donkeys with chronic diarrhoea were subjected to faecal examination and copro–culture. All the animals (100%) were found positive for strongyloid infection with predominance of Oesophagodontus sp.(69%), Trichonema sp. (50%), Trichostrongylus sp. (33.3%) and Strongyloides sp. (45.2%) as single or mixed infections. Key words: Donkey, Copro–culture, Oesophagodontus, Trichonema, Trichostrongylus, Strongyloides

Introduction The donkey is important in many rural parts of India as a pack animal. In villages of hilly areas, donkeys are used for carriage purpose and a saddle animal. In Tamil Nadu, Washermen uses the Donkey to carry stack of clothes on its back to and fro the river. the Lack of proper management and by their wandering habits, the donkeys are exposed to a wide range of parasitic infections especially Gastro – intestinal nematodes by their frequent access to the contaminated pasture. Limited literature is available regarding the prevalence of donkey parasitism in India (Chauhan et al, 1975, Pande and Rai, 1960, Senthilvel, and Jeyathilakan, 1975, Chitra et al., 2011). The present paper reports the occurrence of one such parasitic gastroenteritis in donkeys reared in selected rural areas of Tamilnadu state, India. Materials and Methods Twenty eight donkeys comprising of 18 males and 10 females aged between 2-7 years reared by Washermen families in Puliangudi block of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu formed the source material for the present

diarrhoea, progressive loss of condition, emaciation with a marked decline in working capacity (Soulsby, 1965). On enquiry, the conditions were not responding to any routine chemotherapeutic agents and were also [email protected]

DOI 10.5455/ijlr.20141117075301

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lack of specific grazing areas in their actual dwelling places. They were reported with the history of chronic

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study. These animals move near the wildlife areas in the adjoining Western Ghats regions also, due to the


Vol 4(9) Dec’14

not dewormed previously. Dung samples were directly collected from rectum and were subjected to coprological examination by sedimentation technique and faecal culture at the room temperature as per the procedures adopted by Roberts and Sullivan (1949).The morphometry of various third stage infective larvae (L3) was also carried out as per the keys provided by Soulsby (1965) Table-1: Mean Larval Measurement of Strongylid Parasite Larva of Donkeys Kind of larvae Oesophagodontus sp Trichonema sp Tricnostrongylus sp Strongyloides sp

Total Length 855.0 649.8 740.9 564.0

Breadth 34.2 30.2 24.8 18.9

Length of oesophagus 171.0 112.0 132.0 271.0

(In microns) Length of Length or tail sheath 67.2 245.0 41.8 132.6 68.8 35.4 54.9 -

Results and Discussion Of the 28 samples examined, all the samples (100%) were found positive for Strongyloides infection. They were either of single infection (21.4%) (Or) mixed infections (78.6%) with predominantly Oesophagodontus sp (69%), Trichonema sp. (50%), Trichostrongylus sp (33.3%) and Strongyloides, sp (45.2%). This is in accordance with the findings of Waqas et al., (2014) and Uslu, and clu (2007). None of the samples showed either trematode (or) cestode infection. The present observations are in accordance with Senthivel and Jeyathilakan (1995) who opined that Strongyle and Strongyloides were the common nematodes in donkeys (Belem et al., 2005, Ayele et al., 2006). The various measurements of third stage infective larvae obtained in the present study were furnished in the Table. 1. The infection rate was mild to moderate and the heavily infected animals revealed chronic diarrhoea, emaciation and poor performance. In cases of chronic and sub – clinical infections, the affected animals were apparently healthy. Fowler (1986) observed similar findings in parasitized donkeys. The presence of Helminth parasites in equids is mainly due to climate of the region (Ayele, et al., 2006, Matthee, et al., 2002). Even including donkeys with other domestic stock, such as horses or cattle, can also contribute to the helminth species composition and abundance (Belem et al., 2005, Matthee, et al., 2002). The donkeys were advised to treat with ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg, SC or PO, once, with a second dose 4 wk later; 0.8 mg/kg, PO, once) as quoted by Fangama et al., (2013). No adverse reactions were observed in treated donkeys (Imam et al., 2010) Hence, it can be assumed that donkeys, being the store houses for various parasites as observed in this

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various mono-gastric wild species staying in these areas; However systematic studies on such interactions

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investigation, ample opportunities are there for the probable interactions between domestic donkeys and

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DOI 10.5455/ijlr.20141117075301


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are still largely lacking in country like India especially in areas where wild and domestic animals have cograzing habits. Acknowledgement The authors are thankful to the Dean, Madras Veterinary College, Dean, Faculty Basic Science, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai end donkey owners of Puliangudi block of Tirunelveli district, for the facilities and support provided for the study.

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1. Ayele G, Feseha G, Bojia E, and Joe A. 2006. Prevalence of gastro-intestinal parasites of donkeys in Dugda Bora District, Ethiopia. Livestock research for rural development. 18(10):14-21 2. Belem AMG, Salembere MS, and Ouedraogo Ouoba V. 2005. Notes on blood and gastrointestinal parasites of donkeys (Equus asinus) from the area of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Revue Africaine de Sante et de Productions Animales. 3(2):115-117 3. Chauhan HVS, Kaul PL. Kalra, DS and Gupta RP.1975. A report on GI nematodes of donkeys, Indian Veterinary Journal, 52:133-135. 4. Chitra R, Rajendran S, Prasanna D, and Kirubakaran D. 2011. Influences of age on the prevalence of Parasitic infections among donkeys in Erode district, Tamilnadu, India. Veterinary World. 4(6):258-259 5. Daoud, MS and Al Alousi, TI. 1995. A note on some parasites in donkeys in Mosul – Iraq. Iraqi Journal of Veterinary Sciences. 8(1): 169-170. 6. Fangama, M. I., Seri, H. I., Suliman, S. E., Imam, S. M. A., & Mozamel, E. A. (2013). Comparative efficacy evaluation of Moxidectin and ivermectin injectable formulation against helminthes infestation of donkeys (Equus asinus) in Sudan. Assiut Vet. Med. J. Vol, 59, 1-8. 7. Fowler ME. 1986. Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, Pa, USA, 2nd edition 8. Imam, S. M., Seri, H. I., Hassan, T., Tigani, T. A., Zolain, H. B., & Abakar, A. D. (2010). Therapeutic efficacy evaluation of anthelmintics activity of albendazole and ivermectin drench formulations in donkeys in Darfur, Sudan. Veterinarski arhiV, 80(5), 585-595. 9. Matthee S, Krecek RC, and Guthrie AJ, 2002. Effect of management interventions on the helminth parasites recovered from donkeys in South Africa. Journal of Parasitology, 88:171–179. 10. Matthee S, Krecek RC, and Milne SA. 2000. Prevalence and biodiversity of helminth parasites in donkeys from South Africa. Journal of Parasitology, 86(4):756-762 11. Malan FS, Horak IG, Vos VDe and Van Wyk JA. 197. Wildlife parasites: lessons for parasite control in livestock. Veterinary parasitology. 71(2): 137-153. 12. Pande BP and Rai P, 1960. The nematode genus Strongyloides Grassi, 1879 in Indian livestock. I. Observations on natural infections in the donkey (Equus asinus)." British Veterinary Journal. 116(8):281-283. 13. Senthilvel K and Jeyathilakan N. 1995. Prevalence of sub-clinical Gastro-intestinal parasitism in Donkeys (Equines asinus). Cheiron, 24(1):45-46. 14. Soulsby EJL. 1965. Textbook of Veterinary Clinical Parasitology, Black well Scientific Publications, Oxford. 1st Edition. 15. Uslu G, and Guclu F. 2007. Prevalence of endoparasites in horses and donkeys in Turkey. Bulletin of Veterinary Institute in Pulawy. 51: 237-240. 16. Waqas, Muhammad, Muhammad Sarwar Khan, Aneela Zameer Durrani, Muhammad Arif Khan, Muhammad Avais, Shahzad Akbar Khan, Saif Ur Rehman, Abid Hussain, Amar Nasir, and Fernando Cezar dos Santos. 2014. Prevalence of Gastrointestinal parasites, chemotherapy and haematology of Strongylosis in Donkeys of District Lahore, Pakistan. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences.3 (7):198-207.

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