Population density of helminths in ducks: effects of host’s age, sex, breed and season

Abstract

 A study was conducted to investigate the population density of helminth parasites in domestic ducks (Anas boschas domesticus) in relation to host's age, sex, breed and seasons of the year from March 2002 to May 2003. A total of 300 ducks were collected from different villages of Netrokona and Mymensingh districts of Bangladesh and autopsied to collect the parasites and counted to determine the population density of parasites. Off 300 ducks examined, 290 (96.66%) were infected with 17 species of helminth parasites in which 11 species were trematodes, 4 were cestodes and 2 nematodes. Among the parasites, density of cestodes was the highest (33.15±5.26), followed by trematodes (5.98±1.32); and nematodes (2.95±0.68). Mean density of parasites increased with the increase of age (young: 21.23±1.09, adult: 26.18±2.14 and old: 27.87±2.98) while the mean density of most of the helminth parasites was higher in female ducks (31.35±4.72) than in males (27.52±3.32). Indigenous ducks (33.72±3.61) were infected with the highest load of helminths than Khaki Campbell breed (29.61±4.32) of ducks. Mean density of most trematodes (5.42±0.80) were highest in winter season whereas mean density of all cestodes (48.43±4.85) and nematodes (4.13±1.76) were highest in summer.  The present study suggests that age, sex, breed of ducks and seasons of the year influence the parasitic infection to a greater extend. Key words: Population density, helminths, duck, Bangladesh DOI = 10.3329/bjvm.v6i1.1338 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2008). 6 (1): 45-51