Abstract
With the aim of studying the endoparasite fauna of horses from the Formiga city, located in center-west region of the state of Minas Gerais, 25 animals that were naturally infected with helminths were evaluated. By means of parasitological necropsies, different endoparasites were found. The subfamily Cyathostominae presented the highest incidence, followed by Trichostrongylus axei, Oxyuris equi, Triodontophorus serratus, Strongyloides westeri, Strongylus edentatus, Habronema muscae, Parascaris equorum, Probstmayria vivipara, Strongylus vulgaris, Gasterophilus nasalis, Anoplocephala magna and Anoplocephala perfoliata. In the present study, if the species Probstmayria vivipara was not considered in the prevalence, the frequency of Cyathostominae was equivalent to 94.85%. The results obtained in this study allowed us to detect and identify different species of helminths in horses, and confirmed the high incidence of nematodes belonging to the subfamily Cyathostominae in the center-west region of Minas Gerais.
Highlights
Brazil, with 5.5 million horses, has the largest herd in Latin America and the third largest herd worldwide
The cyathostominae were the most prevalent among the necropsied horses, followed by Trichostrongylus axei (68%), Oxyuris equi (64%), Triodontophorus serratus (56%), Strongyloides westeri (28%), Strongylus edentatus (28%), Habronema muscae (20%), Parascaris equorum (20%), Probstmayria vivipara (16%), Strongylus vulgaris (12%), Gasterophilus nasalis (8%), Anoplocephala magna (8%) and Anoplocephala perfoliata (8%) (Table 1)
The high levels of occurrence of Cyathostominae found in the present study corroborate previous studies in which similar occurrence rates for this helminth subfamily in horses in different regions of the world were found (MATTHEE et al, 2000)
Summary
With 5.5 million horses, has the largest herd in Latin America and the third largest herd worldwide. The state of Minas Gerais is where the highest number of horses in Brazil are reared, with approximately 800,000 animals (IBGE, 2010). This animal species presents a great variety of helminths, comprising several families and genera, among which the following stand out: small strongyles or Cyathostominae, large strongyles (Strongylus vulgaris, Strongylus equinus and Strongylus edentatus), as well as Parascaris equorum, Oxyuris equi, Strongyloides westeri, Trichostrongylus axei, Gasterophilus spp, Habronema spp, Dictyocaulus arnfieldi and Anoplocephala spp. The main clinical signs/symptoms of equine helminth infections are weakness, rugged hair coat, slow growth, cramps and diarrhea These are considered to be precursors of damage to organs of the digestive tract and severe disorders in enzymatic and hormonal processes (ASSIS & ARAÚJO, 2003).
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