Environmental and Public Health Perspective of the Prevalence of Intestinal Helminths Infection of Cattle in Gubi and Galambi Ranches in Bauchi, Nigeria

Abstract

Faecal samples were collected from cattle in Gubi and Galambi cattle ranches and examined for eggs of intestinal helminths. The ages of the cattle ranged from 1-10 years and were grouped into two - 1-4 years and 5-10 years representing younger and older cattle respectively. A total number of 600 cattle (300 from each farm) were examined for intestinal parasites out of which 355 cattle were found to be infected in the two cattle ranches. Out of the 355 infected cattle, 50.99% were from Galambi, while Gubi had slightly lower cases of 49.01%. Out of the 10 helminths species identified in the two cattle ranches the most prevalent was Oesophagostomum radiatum. Female cattle were more infected (60.66%) in Gubi than their male counterparts in which 55.32% infection rate was recorded. Similar trend was also observed in Galambi where the rate of infection recorded in the female (62.00%) was higher than 58.62% recorded in the male cattle. Among the younger cattle aged 1-4 years, 29.36% were infected in Gubi while 26.00% of the same age group were harbouring the parasites in Galambi. It is recommended among others that penn should not be overstocked and cattle farmers should be educated on the importance of environmental sanitation and hygiene in cattle ranches management.

Key words: Intestinal, Helminths, Cattle Ranches, Bauchi