Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was conducted on local backyard chickens in three
selected districts of North Gondar Administrative Zone (Dembya and Gondar
in midland, and Wogera in highland) to estimate the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infections and identify the involved parasite species. A total
of 260 chickens were purchased, sacrificed and their gastro-intestinal tracts
were examined for adult helminth parasites. The overall gastrointestinal helminth prevalence was 79.62% and mixed helminth infections were found in
56.52% of birds. Nematodes (3 species) were recovered in 157 (60.38%)
chickens, whereas cestodes (7 species) were found in 142 (54.62%) birds.
Raillietina echinobothridia (29.62%), Raillietina tetragona (12.31%) and Hymenolepis cantaniana (10.00%) were the most prevalent cestodes identified
while the recovered nematodes included Ascaridia galli (39.23%), Hetrakis
gallinarium (39.62%) and Dispharynx nasuta (3.46%). Significant difference
in the occurrence of cestodes was observed among the 3 selected districts,
the birds from the midland areas being more frequently infected. No significant effects of age, sex or body condition on the helminth susceptibility were
evidenced in the local backyard chickens. These results show that gastrointestinal helminths are highly prevalent in local backyard chickens in North
Gondar and the identification of the predominant cestod and nematode species
is required for establishing appropriate control and prevention strategies.
Description:
In developing countries, over 6 billion poultry are kept
under different production systems. In Africa, about 80% of
the chicken populations are found in traditional production
system [8]. In Ethiopia, chickens are widespread and almost
every rural family owns chickens, which provide a valuable
source of family protein and income [21]. The total poultry
population of Ethiopia is estimated at 38.1 million and approximately 99% are raised under the traditional backyard
system with little or no inputs for housing, feeding or health
care [1, 4, 6, 14, 21
