Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T05:23:45.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The ecology of infective larvae of bovine gastrointestinal trichostrongylids in dry season contaminated pastures in the Nigerian derived savanna

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2009

S. N. Chiejina  and
B. B. Fakae
S. N. Chiejina
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
B. B. Fakae
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Five experimental grass paddocks were sequentially contaminated with fresh bovine faeces containing known numbers of eggs of predominantly Haemonchus and Cooperia spp. during the 1984/85 dry season (November to March). Faecal, herbage and soil samples were examined at regular intervals between November and June in order to determine the rate of development and mortality of infective larvae (L3) in faeces, the pattern of herbage infestation with L3 and the role of faeces and soil as reservoirs of L3 during the dry season and early rains. L3 first appeared in faeces approximately 4 days post contamination (PC) and peak counts were obtained 28, 14, 7 and 14 days PC in the paddocks contaminated in December, January, February and March, respectively. The counts initially declined linearly at the rate of approximately 7535 L3/week and 10 947 L3/week in P2 and P4 respectively, due primarily to mortality but later there was an accelerated fall in the counts as the surviving L3 moved out of the faecal pads onto herbage. The overall trend of faecal larval populations in each paddock was therefore distinctly curvilinear. Although large numbers of L3 were present inside dry faecal pads in most paddocks throughout the dry season, none migrated on to herbage at that time of the year. Translation of L3 to herbage was very rapid and occurred simultaneously in all the paddocks 24 hours following the first heavy rainfall in late March. Consequently peak herbage infestations in all paddocks were coincident and occurred a few days after commencement of larval migration. The closer to the end of the dry season the contaminations were carried out, the larger were the subsequent early rains rise and the peak herbage infestation and the longer this infestation survived on herbage. No L3 were recovered from soil throughout the study, which suggests that faecal pads were the sole reservoir of L3 during the dry season and hence the source of the early rains herbage infestation.

Keywords

infective larvaeCooperiaHaemonchusTrichostrongyluscattleherbagesoildry seasonearly rainsderived savannaNigeriafaeces
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Helminthology , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , June 1989 , pp. 127 - 139
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barger, I. A., Lewis, R. J. & Brown, G. F. (1984) Survival of infective larvae of nematode parasites of cattle during drought. Veterinary Parasitology, 14, 143–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiejina, S. N. (1982) Evaluation of modified Baermann apparatus for the recovery of infective trichostrongylid larvae from herbage samples. Journal of Helminthology, 56, 105–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiejina, S. N. & Clegg, F. G. (1978) Some observations on the epidemiology of ostertagiasis in calves in Britain: an analysis of laboratory diagnostic and field data for 1974 to 1976. British Veterinary Journal, 134, 541–550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiejina, S. N. & Emehelu, C. O. (1984) Seasonal changes in pasture populations of infective larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle in eastern Nigeria. Research in Veterinary Science, 37, 144–147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chiejina, S. N. & Fakae, B. B. (1984) The development and survival of infective larvae of gastrointestinal nematode parasites of cattle on pasture in eastern Nigeria. Research in Veterinary Science, 37, 148–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crofton, H. D. (1963) Nematode parasite populations in sheep and on pasture. Technical communication No. 35 of the Commonwealth Bureau of Helminthology, St. Albans, P19. Commonwealth Bureau, Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire, England.Google Scholar
Dinaburg, A. G. (1944) Development and survival under outdoor conditions of eggs and larvae of common ruminant stomach worm, Haemonchus contortus. Journal of Agricultural Research, 69, 421–433.Google Scholar
Durie, P. H. (1961) Parasitic gastroenteritis of cattle. The distribution and survival of strongyle larvae on pasture. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 12, 1200–1211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fakae, B. B. & Chiejina, S. N. (1988) The relative contributions of late dry season and early rains pasture contaminations with strongyle eggs to the wet season herbage infestation in eastern Nigeria. Veterinary Parasitology. 28, 115–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, H. McL. (1953) The epidemiology of helminthosis in sheep in winter rainfall regions of Australia. I. Preliminary observations. Australian Veterinary Journal, 39, 337–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, R. K. (1953) The differentiation of the infective larvae of some common nematode parasites of cattle. Australian Journal of Zoology, 2, 223–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, J. & Kohout, F. J. (1975) Multiple regression analysis. Subprogram regression. In: Statistical package for the social sciences, second edition (editors, Nie, N. H., Hull, C. H., Jenkins, J. G., Steinbrenner, K. and Bent, D. H.) pp 302–367. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York and London.Google Scholar
Lee, R. P., Armour, J. & Ross, J. G. (1960) The seasonal variations of strongyle infestations in Nigerian zebu cattle. British Veterinary Journal, 116, 34–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, J. H. (1961) Some observations on the free-living stages of Ostertagia ostertagi, a stomach worm of cattle. Parasitology, 51, 295–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, J. H. (1962) Further observations on the free-living stages of Ostertagia ostertagi in cattle. Journal of Comparative Pathology, 72, 11–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smeal, M. G., Robinson, G. G. & Fraser, G. C. (1980) Seasonal availability of nematode larvae on pastures grazed by cattle in New South Wales. Australian Veterinary Journal, 56, 74–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sprent, J. F. A. (1946) Some observations on the bionomics of Bunostomum phlebotomum, a hookworm of cattle. Parasitology, 37, 202–210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steel, R. G. D. & Torrie, J. H. (1960) Principles and procedures of statistics with special reference to biological sciences, pp 173–175. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York and London.Google Scholar
Young, R. R. & Anderson, N. (1981) The ecology of the free-living stages of Ostertagia ostertagi in a winter rainfall region. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 32, 371–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar