title: Prevalence of Giardia in dairy cattle in Lusaka and Chilanga districts, Zambia.
abstract: Giardia is an intestinal protozoan parasite of mammals including humans. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate prevalence of Giardia infections in smallholder and commercial dairy herds in Chilanga and Lusaka districts of Zambia. A total of 377 calves aged from 1 to 365 days were sampled on 34 farms. All faecal samples were analyzed for Giardia antigen using a commercially available ELISA kit. Overall prevalence of Giardia was 34.5% (95% CI=29.7-39.3). Among smallholder farms, animal level prevalence ranged from 0 to 100% (mean=44.6±36.9 standard deviations) and 12.5 to 60.9% (mean=33.5±16.7 standard deviations) within commercial herds. Prevalence was highest in calves less than three months old (p=0.010), and there was no significant difference in the prevalence between smallholder and commercial farms (p=0.300). Giardia prevalence was not associated with occurrence of diarrhoea in the calves (p=0.205). The study demonstrates that Giardia infections are common in dairy herds in the study areas, especially in calves less than three months of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia. Electronic address: c.kakandelwa@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Cliff
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kakandelwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siwila
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: King S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Nalubamba
authors.affiliation: Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Muma
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia.
authors.forename: Isaac G K
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Phiri
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D003612:Dairying; D005260:Female; D005872:Giardia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D015024:Zambia / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Dairy calves; Giardia; Prevalence; Zambia