TABLE CONTENTS

TOPIC SEVEN – ANIMAL-PARASITIC NEMATODES
Parasitic Infections of Himalayan Yak Bos (poephagus) grunniens: Current
Scenario
Joshi, S.D. (3), P.R. Bhatta (2) & A. Sharma (1)
(1) Public Health Office, Kailali,Nepal; (3) Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science,Rampur,
NEPAL; (2) All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
For centuries, the yak and its hybrids with domestic cows (dzomo/dzo) have been
contributing to the socio-economic status of their owners in desolate regions of the Greater
Himalayas. Studies on the prevalence of parasitic diseases in these animals were undertaken
in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir), Sikkim and villages near the India and Nepal Himalayan
regions. Visceral organs of necropsied animals were observed for the presence of adult
metazoan parasites, fresh or preserved faecal samples were examined for the eggs of helminth
parasites and protozoan cysts, and blood smears were examined for haemo-protozoa and
microfilariae. In all, examination of 225 faecal samples, 180 blood smears and the visceral
organs of thirteen yaks and dzomo/dzo was undertaken. On necropsy, visceral organs
revealed various adult liver and stomach flukes, gastrointestinal nematodes, tapeworms, cysts
of Coenurus spp. and hydatid cysts, as well as Setaria cervi worms and large and/or small
sized Sarcocystis cysts. On coprological examination, egg prevalences of 10% for Fasciola
spp., 6.6% for various amphistomes, 10% for Moniezia spp., 76.4% for Strongylate spp., 24%
for Neoascaris spp. and 13.7% for Nematodirus spp. were recorded. Identification of
infective larvae from the faecal cultures showed that a majority of eggs (86.3%) in the host
faeces were contributed by nematodes belonging to Trichostrongyle spp., Ostertagia spp. and
Cooperia spp. This was followed by Chabertia spp. (6.5%). Haemonchus spp., Bunostomum
spp. and Nematodirus spp. together contributed only 7.2% of the eggs found. Among
protozoan infections, Eimeria brasiliensis and E. zurnii were common. None of the blood
smears evidenced any haemoprotozoa or microfilariae. Likewise, none of the animals were
positive for Trichuris spp.
A Survey of Morphologic Characters and Distribution of Intestinal
Helminthes in Stray Dogs in the West of Iran
Sattari, A. (1) & F. Moshiri (2)
(1) Department of Laboratory Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan branch, Gorgan, I.R.Iran; (2)
Department of Medical Genetic, Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Human infection, especially with helminthes parasites, is an emerging health issue, as the
human environment is increasingly shared with infected animals, either pets or wild life. In
this survey, the intestinal contents of 83 stray dogs were collected from the West Azarbaijan,
Kordestan and Kermanshah provinces in the west of Iran. Following autopsy of the animals,
their small intestines were removed, slit open and the epithelium of the intestine scraped into
a jar. Recovered helminthes were fixed in alcohol and the cestodes were stained with
carmine. The parasites were identified according to the keys and guidelines given by
Yamaguti (1961), Anderson (1992) and Khalil et al. (1994). The percentage of different
species recovered from these animals is listed as follows:
5 th International Congress of Nematology, 2008 227