English

Abstract

Helminths have been a serious trouble for the farmers due to their adverse effects on small ruminant production. Hemonchus contortus (H. contortus) and Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica) are highly pathogenic and pose serious threat in co-existence. Because of increasing threat of anthelmintic resistance, alternative methods are being investigated and the herbal remedies stand the most prominent due to their efficacy and availability. Anthelmintic activity of the herbal mixture was evaluated in goats. Adult goats were selected at Livestock Production and Research Centre (LPRI) Bahadarnagar, Okara and were examined for helminth eggs in their feces. Twenty-four goats having almost similar egg per gram (EPG) of feces values of H. contortus and F. hepatica were selected and allocated to four groups of equal size. Herbal mixture was administered at dose rate of 1400, 1200 and 1000 mg/kg to each member of groups G1, G2 and G3, respectively on day 0, 7, 14 and 21 of the trials, while group G4 served as negative control receiving no medicine/herbal mixture. Trials continued for 30 days and data about EPG, fecal egg count reduction, complete blood count and serum biochemistry were collected before administration of herbal mixture at day 15 and day 30 of trial while animals were weighed before initiation of trial (day 0) and at the end of trial (day 30). All treatments showed a significant reduction in fecal egg count as compared to control group. Maximum fecal egg count reduction was observed in animals of group G1, which is 91.35% for H. contortus and 82.35% for F. hepatica. There was a slight increase in weight gain ratio of the treated animals in respective decreasing order with G1 having highest weight gain. An increase in erythrocyte count, pack cell volume and hemoglobin concentration was recorded while non-significant effect was observed on serum parameters. The results of this trial suggested that herbal dewormer is effective and can be an option for integrated management strategies for nematodes and trematodes control in the goats