Occurrence of helminths and coccidia in apparently healthy free range local chickens slaughtered at Morogoro live bird market
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tanzania Veterinary Journal
Abstract
Endoparasites are among important causes of mortality and reduced productivity in village chickens. This study was
carried out to determine the presence of intestinal helminths and coccidia in apparently healthy free range local chickens
slaughtered at Morogoro live bird market so as to establish the magnitude of the problem. A total of 252 intestines of
slaughtered chickens were examined during the survey. Helminths were recovered and identified using standard
methods. Smears of intestinal scrapings were examined under light microscope to detect coccidia oocysts. Two hundred
and twenty chickens (87.3%) were infested with helminth species, whereas 28 birds (11.1%) were infected with
coccidia. Twenty five birds (9.9%) had conjoint infestations with helminth and coccidia. In the present survey nine,
different helminth species were recovered, namely; Ascaridia galli (10.5%); Heterakis gallinarum (5.3%); H. isolonche
(3.9%); Capillaria spp. (2.6%); Raillietina echinobothrida (38.2%); R. tetragona (34.2%); R. cesticillus (2.6%);
Choanotaenia infundibulum (1.3%) and Hymenolepsis cantaniana (1.3%). The predilection site for the cestodes was the
small intestines except for H. cantaniana which was also recovered from the large intestines. With the nematodes,
Capillaria spp. and H. isolonche were recovered from the caeca, H. gallinarum from small and large intestines and A.
galli from all intestinal parts. Our findings indicate that helminth and coccidia are common and pose health problems in
free range local chickens. Integrated sustainable control strategies need to be put in place to improve chicken
productivity and enhance smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in the rural areas where most of the village chickens are
produced.
Description
Journal article
Keywords
Helminth, Coccidia, Village chicken, Live bird market