A Survey of Seasonal Gastrointestinal Parasitic Infections in Donkeys from a Semiarid Sub-Saharan Region, Sudan.
Out of 92 donkeys examined for gastrointestinal parasites, 90 animals were found infected by one or more gastrointestinal parasites with an overall prevalence rate of 97.78%. The distributions of the recovered parasites in the different parts of the body were as follows: stomach, 92.4%, small intestine, 19.6%, caecum, 88%, colon, 80.4%, rectum, 73.9%, and cranial mesenteric artery, 64.1%. A significant difference was found between mean parasite counts and seasons. Hot wet season had higher mean parasites count (5411.5 ± 1694.4) in comparison with hot dry (1795.9 ± 399.6) and cool dry (1719.9 ± 522.4) seasons. Although there was no significant difference between age and mean parasite count, animals more than four years old had high mean count (3361.3 ± 921.8) in comparison with 2330 ± 744.3 and 2030.2 ± 873.1 for young and adults animals, respectively. No significant positive or negative correlation was found between total parasite counts of infected animals and any of the climatic factors. The parasites identified were Habronema spp. (40.2%), Trichostrongylus axei (30.4%), Parascaris equorum (18.5%), Anoplocephala perfoliata (4.35%), Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus (8.7%), large strongyles (84%), small strongyles (72%), and Oxyuris equi (1.1%).
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Nyala, P.O. Box 155, Nyala, Sudan.
Ahmed Abdurhman
AA
Ismail
Directorate of Animal Health, State Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, P.O. Box 155, Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan.
Nasredin Khogali
NK
Ahmed
Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Nyala, P.O. Box 155, Nyala, Sudan.
Ahmed Elhag
AE
Bashar
College of Veterinary Medicine, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
Hisham Ismail
HI
Seri
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Nyala, P.O. Box 155, Nyala, Sudan; Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, P.O. Box 6622, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
El Tigani Ahmed
el TA
El Tigani-Asil
Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Gezira, P.O. Box 20, Wadmedani, Sudan.
Adam Dawoud
AD
Abakar