Abstract

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A study to determine the distribution of intestinal parasites in fecal effluents from cattle was carried out at the Gariki abattoir in Abakaliki; Ebonyi State. Samples were collected from cow slurries. A total of 200 samples were examined for intestinal parasites. The conventional wet preparation procedure by the World health organization and the Formol ether concentration technique were used to analyse the slurry samples. Both helminth and protozoan parasites were discovered in this study. Parasites species recovered include Ascaris lumbicoides, Giardia lamblia, Hookworms and Taenia spp. Among all the organisms discovered, Fasciola spp had the highest prevalence (26.7%) and the lowest observed were Entamoeba coli and Hymenolepis diminuta with the prevalence of 0.9% each. Incidence of gastrointestinal parasites in cattle is an economic threat to the farmer as well as direct consumers who rely on beef as their source of protein. This study established an incidence of helminth and protozoan infections of both zoonotic and socioeconomic importance in some of the slurries examined. Considering the impact of the infections on animal production and public health, it is suggested that effective prophylactic measures be adopted as a first step to curtail helminth infections of cattle in Nigeria especially as regards maintaining abattoirs with high sanitary standards.

Keywords: animal production public health, prophylactic