Abstract
Background: Ecto-parasites namely ticks, lice and flea are important due to their blood sucking habit, skin damage and acting as vectors for various disease pathogens in both livestock and humans. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence and identify potential factors associated with ecto-parasitic infestations at Mymensingh sadar, Mymensingh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken during July 2019 to June 2020. The data on risk factors was recorded using a questionnaire. Ecto-parasites were collected from randomly selected 173 goats and examined by preparing permanent slides. The potential factors were identified by univariable analysis. Main results: The overall prevalence of ectoparasitic infestation was 60.1% (104/173). The identified ecto-parasites were Damalinia caprae (83, 47.9%), Linognathus stenopsis (42, 24.3%), Haemaphysalis bispinosa (36, 20.8%) and Ctenocephalides canis (16, 9.3%). Female (70.7%) goats were 2.9 times more prone to ecto-parasitic infestations than male goats (48.2%). Significantly highest infestations was recorded in adult goats (72.7%), followed by the young goats (52.7%) and the lowest in kids (46.3%). Also, prevalence was significantly (p< 0.001) higher in poor conditioned (76.4%) and anemic (72.9%) goats than that of good conditioned (34.3%) and non-anemic (44.2%) goats, respectively. Furthermore, acaricides /insecticides use in goats greatly influenced the prevalence of ecto-parasitic infestations. Prevalence was higher in those goats that never treated with acaricides and/or insecticides (70.78%) than those goats regularly treated with acaricides/insecticides (27.91%). Conclusions: A very high prevalence of ecto-parasitic infestation was recorded in goats of Mymensingh district. Farmers awareness should be increased to control ectoparasitic infestations especially in female, adult and goats with poor body condition.
Highlights
Goat has a significant role in livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh
Ecto-parasitic infestations are prevalent in Bangladesh and multiple epidemiological factors are connected with the ecto-parasitism such as sex, age, body condition, anemic condition and acaricide/insecticide use
Several researches were conducted focusing on the epidemiological influencers of different ectoparasitic infestation such as arachnids, namely Heamaphysalis bispinosa, Boophilus microplus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, and Psoroptes cuniculi, and Insecta namely Haematopinu seurysternus, Damalinia caprae, Linognathus stenopsis,and Ctenocephalides canis in goats in Bangladesh (Kamal et al, 1996; Rony et al, 2010; Noor et al, 2016)
Summary
Goat has a significant role in livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh. Over the past 50 years, the goat population is multiplied 2.4 times while about 45 percent of the world’s goats are reared in Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan. Lice, fleas and mites are the common ectoparasites of animals (Soulsby, 1982; Nooruddin and Mondal, 1996) that cause various health problems like puncture, burrow or attach onto the surface and cause discomfort and annoyance. The present study was designed to estimate the prevalence and identify potential factors associated with ecto-parasitic infestations in goats at Mymensingh Sadar, Mymensingh. Ecto-parasites namely ticks, lice and flea are important due to their blood sucking habit, skin damage and acting as vectors for various disease pathogens in both livestock and humans. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence and identify potential factors associated with ecto-parasitic infestations at Mymensingh Sadar, Mymensingh.
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