Abstract
The study was conducted to explore the effect of two herbal drugs, Caesalpinia crista and Nigella sativa in comparison with Oxfendazole in broilers experimentally induced with Ascaridia galli infection .A total of 130 day old broiler chicks were divided into five groups i.e. A, B, C, D and E each group having 26 birds. Group E was kept as negative control, while all other groups were induced with experimental Ascardia galli infection on 15 th day. Group A was kept as positive control and groups B and C were treated with Caesalpinia crista and Nigella sativa as methanolic extract orally once @50mg/kg body weight and group D was medicated with Oxfendazole @10mg/kg body weight orally once on 25 th day post infection. On 25th day post infection before treatment 4 birds from each group were slaughtered, and worm count was done. The efficacy was confirmed by counting the worm, slaughtering all the bird on 30 th day post infection. The mean worm count was significantly different (p<0.05) between the treated and non treated groups. The efficacy of the plant extracts were less as compare to Oxfendazole. The efficacy of Caesalpinia crista and Nigella sativa was 70.83% and 57.5% respectively while the efficacy of Oxfendazole was 90.83%.In vitro treatment at 37±1°C revealed that a serial dose of the plant extract caused dose-dependent vermicidal effect on the worm (significant efficacy at P<0.05), except at the lowest dose (i.e. 5 mg/mL). The efficacy of drugs was calculated on the basis of reduction in total worm count after treatment.
Highlights
The increasing demand on poultry products from back yard and commercial poultry systems is restricted by the heavy burden of different poultry parasites which are emerging in such production systems (Fossum et al.[17])
Economic losses are usually associated with Ascaridia galli infection because of treatment cost and impair performance (Ruff.[36]; Martín-Pacho et al.[32])
The chief economic importance lies in the ability of A. galli to act as a vector for transmission of other infectious organisms like Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli (Chadfield et al[13]; Permin et al.[35])
Summary
The increasing demand on poultry products from back yard and commercial poultry systems is restricted by the heavy burden of different poultry parasites which are emerging in such production systems (Fossum et al.[17]). Ascaridia galli is the most prevalent helminth species in different poultry production systems (Permin et al.[34]; Abdelqader et al.[2]; Kaufmann et al.[27]). Different approaches were employed to sustainable control of A. galli, for example, utilization of genetic resistance (Gauly et al.[18]; Abdelqader et al.[1]; Kaufmann et al.[26]), nutrition of host animal (Daset al.[14]), biological control (Braga et al.[11]), and the use of plants with anti-parasitic properties (Siamba et al.[40]; Kholhring et al.[28]). Nigella sativa is an annual herb of the Ranunculaceae family, which grows in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, Pakistan and India This widely distributed plant is native to Arab countries and other parts of the Mediterranean region.Nigella sativa have shown efficacy against ovine and caprine helminthiasis in the form of reduction of faecal egg counts without any side effect (Akhtar.[5]). The present study encourages the possible use of indigenous plants for the treatment of Ascaridia galli infection in poultry, because these indigenous drugs are cheaper and available
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