ABSTRACT
Previous observations showed that Duddingtonia flagrans chlamydospores were visualized in McMaster chambers containing faeces of treated sheep. This trial explored the McMaster technique as a tool to quantify chlamydospores in sheep faeces. A range of individual chlamydospore doses (from 19.5 x 10(6) to 177.5 x 10(6)) were offered orally to nine lambs for 7 consecutive days. A faecal sample (5 g) was daily obtained from the rectum of each animal (from days 1 to 13) to perform the McMaster technique using a sugar flotation fluid with 1.27 g/mL density. Each chlamydospore counted in the McMaster chamber was considered as 50 chlamydospores per g of faeces (CPG). The results confirmed that the estimated CPG was associated with the daily dose offered to the animals (r(2)=0.90; P<0.001). Furthermore, the total chlamydospore dose received by each animal was strongly associated to the total quantity of CPG obtained from the bulk faeces (TCtot) (r(2)=0.96; P<0.0001). Quantification of CPG can be used as a helpful tool to determine the number of chlamydospores reaching the faeces in orally dosed animals. This could be used to evaluate the efficacy of D. flagrans for the control of gastrointestinal nematode larvae in sheep faeces.
Subject(s)
Ascomycota/physiology , Colony Count, Microbial/veterinary , Feces/microbiology , Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/veterinary , Nematode Infections/veterinary , Sheep Diseases/therapy , Animals , Ascomycota/isolation & purification , Feces/parasitology , Host-Parasite Interactions , Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/parasitology , Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/therapy , Nematode Infections/parasitology , Nematode Infections/therapy , Parasite Egg Count/veterinary , Pest Control, Biological , Sheep , Sheep Diseases/parasitology , Spores, Fungal/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
The objective was to determine the effect of supplementary feeding on the resilience and resistance of Criollo kids against natural gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections, when browsing native vegetation during the wet season in tropical Mexico. Thirty-four 2-month old Criollo kids, raised nematode free, were included at weaning in a 22-week trial. The kids were placed into four groups. Two groups of 8 kids were offered 100g/day soybean and sorghum meal (26%:74%, respectively fresh basis) (treated/supplemented (T-S) and infected/supplemented (I-S)). Two groups remained with no supplement for the duration of the trial (infected/non-supplemented (I-NS) (n = 10) and treated/non-supplemented (T-NS) (n = 8)). Kids in groups T-S and T-NS were drenched with 0.2mg of moxidectin/kg body weight orally (Cydectin, Fort Dodge) every 28 days. Groups I-S and I-NS were naturally infected with GIN. The animals browsed native vegetation (for an average of 7h/day) together with a herd of 120 naturally infected adult goats. Cumulative live weight gain (CLWG), packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), total plasma protein and plasma albumin were recorded every 14 days as measurements of resilience. Resistance parameters (faecal egg counts (FEC) and peripheral eosinophil counts (PEC)) were also measured. Bulk faecal cultures were made for each group every 28 days. Every month a new pair of tracer kids assessed the infectivity of the vegetation browsed by the animals. The T-S group had the highest CLWG, PCV and Hb compared to the other three groups (P < 0.001). The I-S and T-NS group had similar mean CLWG and PCV (P > 0.05), while the I-NS group had the poorest CLWG, PCV and Hb (P < 0.001). The PEC of supplemented kids (I-S and T-S) was higher than in the I-NS and T-NS kids (P < 0.05). No effect of supplementary feeding was found in the FEC. Tracer kids and faecal cultures showed that kids suffered mixed infections with Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Oesophagostomum columbianum. Supplementary feeding improved resilience of browsing Criollo kids against natural GIN infections and was economically feasible. Improved resistance was also suggested by the PEC but was not confirmed in the FEC.
Subject(s)
Animal Feed , Body Weight/drug effects , Dietary Proteins/administration & dosage , Goat Diseases/immunology , Immunity, Innate/physiology , Nematode Infections/veterinary , Animal Feed/economics , Animals , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Dietary Supplements , Feces/parasitology , Female , Goat Diseases/blood , Goats , Male , Mexico , Nematoda/growth & development , Nematoda/pathogenicity , Nematode Infections/blood , Nematode Infections/immunology , Parasite Egg Count/veterinary , Poaceae , Rain , Random Allocation , SeasonsABSTRACT
Introducción. Los hemoparásitos son organismos que pueden ser transmitidos a los animales domésticos por vectores mecánicos y biológicos. Su presencia en los animales domésticos produce cuadros hemáticos que afectan la salud animal. Material y métodos. Se revisaron los archivos del laboratorio de Parasitología de la Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia de la Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, de marzo de 1984 a diciembre de 1999. Se obtuvo la información de las muestras sanguíneas de bovinos, caninos y equinos que fueron remitidas y procesadas mediante las técnicas de Knott y frotis sanguíneos teñidos con Giemsa al 10 por ciento. Resultados. Se analizaron un total de 3010 muestras sanguíneas, de las cuales 2438 fueron de bovinos, 493 de caninos y 79 de equinos. Los hemoparásitos que se diagnosticaron en las distintas especies animales fueron los siguientes: bovinos: Babesia bovis (2.78 por ciento), Babesia bigemina (1.23 por ciento) y Anaplasma marginale (15.79 por ciento); caninos: Dirofilaria immitis (7.42 por ciento), Dipetalonema reconditum (5.88 por ciento) y Babesia canis (3.92 por ciento), y equinos: Babesia equi (3.79 por ciento) y Babesia caballi (2.53 por ciento). Conclusiones. Se concluye que los bovinos, caninos y equinos del estado de Yucatán se encuentran afectados por hemoparásitos que pueden afectar la salud y/o producción animal.
