Calvesgastrointestinal nematodes and Eimeria prevalence and associatedrisk factors in dairyfarms,southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Dairy production is an important component of livestock farming in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the productivity of the sector has been impacted negatively by the morbidity and mortality of replacement animals. A Cross-sectional study was, therefore, aimed at estimating the prevalence of Nematode and Eimeria infection in calves in Hawassa, Shashemene and Arsi Negelle, southern Ethiopia. To this end, a flotation technique was used to recover Nematodeegg andEimeria oocyst from rectally collected faeces. The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infection, Nematode and Eimeria species collectively, was 43.9% (95% CI=38.6-49.4). The estimated proportion of Nematode, Eimeria and mixed infection was 35.8%, 21.5% and 13.3%, respectively. Among the potential factors considered faecal consistency, age and study area were found to increase recovery of Nematode egg and Eimeria oocyst in faeces (p< 0.05). Area wise, the prevalence has been noted to be higher at Arsi Negelle followed by Hawassa andShashemene (p< 0.05). Besides, younger and diarrheic calves were found more infectedbyNematodeandEimeriaspecies than their adult and non-diarrhic counterpart. Based on their morphological appearance, Strongyle type (20.3%), Trichuris (4.2%) and Ascaris(16.3%) eggs, Eimeria oocysts (21.5%) were observed. In the light of this finding, the authors would like to advise the need for strategic intervention.

Keywords

• calves; dairy farm; eimeria; nematode; ethiopia