Veterinary Science & Technology

Identification of Helminths Parasites, Species Richness and their Effects on Hematological Components in Chicken Kept Under Scavenging Chicken Production System in and Around Bishoftu, Ethiopia

Abstract

Yalelet Worku and Tufa Bedanie

The current study was undertaken around Bishoftu town using 75 chickens to identify helminths species and to elucidate the effects of helminths species on hematological components in chickens kept under scavenging production system. Researchers hypothesized that the hematological parameters would be correlated to the species richness per chicken. Hematological analysis was employed to estimate the effects of helminths on blood components and postmortem examination also used for the purpose of detecting the presence or absences of helminths infections. In hematological analysis the mean values of hematological indices in infected chicken were 30.1 ± 2.7%, 10.2 ± 1.4 gm/dL, 3.12 ± 0.3 × 10⁶/μL and 3.53 ± 0.3 × 10³/μL for Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Hemoglobin concentration (Hbc), Red Blood Cells count (RBCc) and White Blood Cells count (WBCc), respectively and in non-infected chicken were 34.56 ± 2.4%, 12.3 ± 0.9 gm/dL, 3.6 ± 0.2 × 10⁶/μL and 3.35 ± 0.2 × 10³/μL for PCV, Hb, RBCc and WBCc respectively. The effect of helminths assessed by comparing the two groups of chickens infected with non-infected. There was significant association (p<0.05) between infected and non-infected chicken and mean hematological indices. There was a negative significant correlation between infected and mean hematological of PCV (r=-0.57, p=0.00), Hb (r=-0.54, p=0.00) and RBCc (r=-0.53, p=0.00) but positive correlation between infected and mean values of WBCc (r=0.262, p=0.023). The postmortem finding identified six nematode and six cestode species. Ascaridia galli (24%) and Heterakis gallinarum (21.3%) were more prevalent nematode species and Raillietina echinobothrida (22.7%) was prevalent cestode species encountered. In conclusion, conducting a large scale research for further understanding whether other risk factors that were not considered in this study affect the epidemiology of helminthic disease and other complimentary physiological parameters indices of health research works would be recommended for further elucidation of the interaction between helminths and the aforementioned health indices. It is also advisable to create awareness to farmer on the importance of deworming in order to reduce economic losses induced by helminths parasites.