Cooperia pectinata and C. punctata, parasites of the abomasum of cattle in northern Cameroon (Central Africa)

Prevalence of Helminthic Infections in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Cattle in Mazandaran Province (Northern Iran)

Ruminant parasites are found in all parts of the world, including the tropical and subtropical regions. Mazandaran province (northern Iran) is one of the areas prone to the activity of gastrointestinal parasites in ruminants. This study was performed in 2020, in order to identify common parasites of cattle gastrointestinal tract, the percentage of the infection, the effect of seasons, and livestock on the amount of infection and determine the severity of infection. In this study, seven genera of gastrointestinal parasites including Strongyloides, Haemonchus, Ostertagia, Cooperia, Trichostrongylus, Oesophagostomum, and Chabertia were identified among 240 cattle. Overall, 34.58% of cows were infected with different kinds of parasites. Based on the average percentage of livestock infected with gastrointestinal parasites across different seasons, winter had the lowest percentage (18.33%) compared to other seasons, which has a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). Also, we observe that the female cattle's infection rate, in comparison with males, had no significant difference (P < 0.05). Moreover, 67.17% of the cattle had a moderate level of infection. Despite the fact that farmers use antiparasitic drugs, helminthic infections in cattle are still high. In conclusion, the lack of proper implementation of helminthic infection control programs as well as antiparasitic drug resistance in this area can be a key element for the high prevalence of livestock helminthic infection in these areas.

Host specificity and phylogeny of Trichostrongylidae of domestic ruminants in the Guinea savannah of the Adamawa plateau in Cameroon

Gastro-intestinal tracts were examined from thirteen Gudali zebu cattle, ten goats and ten sheep from the Adamawa highland in Northern Cameroon. A total of 28,325 adult helminths were recovered from the abomasa, small and large intestines. Five trichostrongylid genera were identified by their morphology: Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus and Oesophagostomum were predominant in both cattle and small ruminants, whilst Cooperia was only found in cattle both in the abomasum and small intestines. The molecular species identification and the inference of their phylogenetic relationships was based on the analysis of the hypervariable region I of the small subunit 18S rDNA (SSU) and the Second Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS-2) of 408 adult trichostrongylid worms, which were PCR-amplified, sequenced, and compared with available database entries. Consistent with earlier findings, the SSU was invariable within the Haemonchus and Trichostrongylus genera, confirming the prior classification based on the morphology of the worms, but the ITS-2 was highly inter- and intraspecifically variable and thus allowed to distinguish individual species and to study the haplotype diversity within the different species. In cattle, we report for the first time in Cameroon co-infection with two species of Haemonchus (H. placei and H. similis), together with two species of Cooperia (C. punctata and C. pectinata) and one species of Trichostrongylus (T. axei). In goats and sheep, we found one highly polymorphic clade of Haemonchus contortus and two Trichostrongylus species (T. axei and T. colubriformis). When compared with other Trichostrongylidae from different regions of the world and wildlife, the analysis of haplotypes did not indicate any host and geographical isolation, but a very high haplotype diversity among H. contortus. These findings illustrate the complexity of trichostrongylid populations in domestic ruminants and suggest grazing overlap between domestic and wildlife hosts.