oxyspirura mansoni in backyard poultry of kerala - Jivaonline.net

CLINICAL REPORT
Oxyspirura mansoni
IN BACKYARD POULTRY OF KERALA
1 2 2 2
Deepu Philip Mathew , Priya M .N ., Deepa C.K ., Syamala K .,
2 2
Ajithkumar K. G . and Reghu Ravindran
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot
ABSTRACT:
A few birds reared by a private owner as backyard poultry were brought to the Veterinary Dispensary,
Thiruvanvandoor, with the complaint of inability to open the eyes. Irritation and secretion of tears from the eyes
of birds were observed. White, small, thread like nematode worms recovered from the eyes, The worms were
identified as Oxyspirura mansoni based on morphology.
INTRODUCTION:
Despite a tremendous increase in the commercial
rearing, rural poultry still constitutes 80 per cent of
our total poultry population. Though the prevalence
of parasitic infections are less in commercial
system due to the non availability of intermediate
hosts, helminth infections are high in free range and
backyard systems due to exposure to reservoir
hosts and unscientific management practices
(Permin et al., 1999). The present study deals with
the occurrence of Oxyspirura mansoni, the eye
worm of chicken.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
The birds were brought to Veterinary
Dispensary, Thiruvanvandoor, Alappuzha with the
complaint of inability to open the eyes and
protrusion of the nictitating membrane. The owner
complained of irritation and inflammation with
secretion of tears from the eyes of birds. The birds
were reared as back yard poultry by the farmer.
Examination of eyes revealed the presence of large
number of live worms under the nictitating
membrane. Worms recovered from the eyes were
sent to the Department of Veterinary Parasitology,
1. Veterinary surgeon, Veterinary Dispensary,
Thiruvanvandoor, Alapuzha
2. Assistant Professor Department of Veterinary Parasitology,
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot, Lakkidi,
P. O., Wayanad.
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot
for identification.
These parasites were then processed by
dehydrating in ascending grades of alcohol
followed by clearing using creosote. The species
was identified based on morphology according to
Soulsby (1982).
RESULT:
The worms were white, small and thread
like measuring a little over half an inch in length.
The male worms were smaller than the females.
Microscopically, the mouth opening was large,
circular and devoid of lips. The pharynx was
observed to be hourglass shaped (Fig.1). The tail
end of the male was curved ventrally while in
females it was straight. Two unequal spicules were
present on the posterior end of the males. One of the
spicule was long and slender while the other was
short and thick (Fig. 2). There were six pairs of
genital papillae on the posterior end of the male. In
the female, the vulva was located ventrally in the
posterior half of the body.
The worms were
identified as Oxyspirura mansoni based on Soulsby
(1982). The affected birds were treated with
Albendazole 2.5 percent suspension topically by
instilling a drop each into the eyes two times a day
for 3 days consecutively. The complete flock
including the affected birds was dewormed with
JIVA Vol. 10 Issue 1 April 2012
43

CLINICAL REPORT
J. Ind. Vet. Assoc., Kerala. 10 (1)
Fig.1: Oxyspirura mansoni- anterior end-
Hour glass shaped pharynx
Fig.2: Oxyspirura mansoni- male tail end- long
left spicule and short right spicule
Albendazole 2.5 per cent suspension orally at the
dose rate of 25 mg/kg body weight. The treatment
regimen resulted in complete recovery of all the
affected birds.
DISCUSSION:
Previously, Pillai and Peter (1971) and
Nadkal et al., (1972) have reported the occurrence
of O. mansoni in Kerala. Based on available
literature, there is no report of the parasite from the
state since 1972. This may be due to the lack of
surveys for detection of worms from poultry.
44
Eventhough the prevalence of most
parasitic diseases in poultry has reduced
significantly due to commercial poultry
production, a number of helminth species are
observed in rural scavenging poultry (Pandey et al.,
1992, Permin et. al., 1997 and Kabatange and
Katule, 1990). Larvae of Oxyspirura mansoni
develop in the body cavity of the cockroach on
ingestion of embryonated eggs that are passed
through faeces of affected birds. Ingestion of
infected cockroaches leads to infection (Soulsby,
1982). The movement of the worms in the eye,
results in irritation ophthalmitis and abundant
secretion of tears leading to self inflicted injury.
The nictitating membrane becomes swollen and
may protrude out of the corner of the eye (Flynn,
2007).
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