title: Investigation of gastrointestinal parasites of dairy cattle around Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parasitic nematodes are one of the most important causes of production losses in most cattle-producing countries of the world. The aim of the present study is to make a through estimate of helminth and protozoan infection prevalence in dairy cattle around Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  Coprological techniques, including direct fecal smear, simple flotation, and simple sedimentation, were used to detect gastrointestinal helminths and protozoan in dairy cattle. A total of 1259 rectal fecal samples were collected from Holstein dairy cattle at 94 farms in 13 counties in Taiwan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasitic infection was 86.9%. The infection rates of protozoa, nematodes, trematodes, and cestodes were 81.3%, 7.9%, 1.6%, and 0.6%, respectively. Among all parasites, Buxtonella sulcata (61.7%) was the most predominant one, followed with Cryptosporidium spp. (32.6%) and Eimeria spp. (11.8%). There were significant differences in the prevalence of protozoa and nematodes between different age groups and distributional area groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that gastrointestinal parasitic infections occur frequently in dairy cattle around Taiwan, especially protozoan infections. The results indicated that a superior management system and regular anthelmintic treatment should be used for the control of parasitic infections in dairy cattle farms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chiu-Chen
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lian-Chen
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Livestock Disease Control of Taichung County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Hsiung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: chlai@dragon.nchu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Cheng-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology