Gastrointestinal parasitic infections in cattle and swamp buffalo of Guwahati, Assam, India

The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal (G.I.) parasitic infections in cattle and swamp buffalo of Assam, India. A total of 3597 fecal samples of cattle (2339) and buffaloes (1258) were examined for presence of parasitic infections. Examinations revealed an overall prevalence of 58.35% and 29.80% infections in cattle and buffalo, respectively. In cattle, Strongyle sp. (18.76%) was predominant followed by Eimeria sp. (11.97%), Amphistome sp. (8.72%), Strongyloides sp. (3.76%), Moniezia sp. (2.65%), Toxocara vitulorum (1.32%), Buxtonella sulcata (0.81%), Trichuris sp. (0.72%), Fasciola gigantica (0.47%) and Bunostomum sp. (0.38%). In buffalo, Amphistome sp. (8.90%) was predominant followed by T. vitulorum (5.64%), Strongyle sp. (5%), Eimeria sp. (4.53%), Strongyloides sp. (1.35%) and Trichuris sp. (0.47%). Mixed infections with more than one species were recorded in 8.76% and 3.89% cattle and buffalo, respectively. The egg per gram (EPG) of feces in cattle and buffalo was 582.44±8.13 and 475.86±11.29, respectively while oocyst per gram (OPG) of feces was 425.00±20.37 and 251.75±22.35, respectively. Correlation of rainfall and temperature with EPG/OPG of cattle and buffalo was highly significant (P less than 0.01) while correlation of relative humidity (Av.) with EPG of cattle and buffalo was significant (P less than 0.05). Multiple linear regressions explained about 98.10% of total variance in EPG of cattle with environmental variables. 89.10% of total variance in EPG of buffalo was explained in multiple linear regressions due to environmental variables. This shows that the climate in this region is exclusively conducive for the development and propagation of parasites.