Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. 19 ISSUE 3
Written by Marius Catalin BUZATU, Mariana IONITA, Ioan Liviu MITREA
A coprological study was performed in working horses (n=148) from 13 villages in northeastern and southeastern Romania. The aim of this research was to obtain current data on the prevalence of intestinal parasites in working horses and, additionally, to establish strongyle EPG profiles for the horses based on the strongyle eggs per gram of feces (EPG) counts. For this, fresh fecal samples, collected over a 5-months (June-October) period in 2013, were analyzed qualitatively for presence of intestinal parasites using sodium chloride flotation technique, and quantitatively, for strongyle EPG using a modified McMaster egg counting technique. Fecal samples of 104 horses (70.3%) were positive for parasite eggs, with an overall prevalence as follows: 70.3% for strongyles, 12.2% for Parascaris equorum, 4.1% for Strongyloides westeri, and 2.7% for Anoplocephalidae. The highest intensity rate belonged to strongyles, with the EPG counts varying from 25 to 2775. Of them, 58.6% had the EPG count <250, 23.1% between 250-1000, while for 10.6% of the positive animals the EPG counts ranged between 1000–2000, and for 7.7% was bigger than 2000. The average (%) of EPG-positive animals by age group was: <1year (5.8%), 1-5 (20.2%), 6–10 (29.8%), 11–15 (32.6%), and >16 years (11.5%). This research showed the value of strongyle EPG profiling for the working horses, important base for further studies in designing and monitoring sustainable control program of equine parasites.
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