Helminthоfauna of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and fallow deer (Dama dama) in the farm of the Western Polissia of Ukraine

Abstract

Host animals – red deer (Cervus elaphus) and European fallow deer (Dama dama) for industrial cultivation in the conditions of the “Amila” farm in the Western Polissia of Ukraine can be the primary source of the spread of the helminthic infestation. Following this, in September 2022, samples of feces from a red deer (n = 22) and a European fallow deer (n = 5) were collected for coprological research. During the helminthological study of red deer from five lineages (Eastern European, English, Hungarian, Latvian crossbred, Lithuanian crossbred) in farms, Ostertagia leptospicularis mint eggs were found in faeces in 72.7 % of animals at an intensity of infestation of 6.0 ± 2.1 to 19.3 ± 5.6 EGF. As part of a two-component associative invasion, the species of helminth Ostertagia leptospicularis crossed together with the species Cooperia oncophora (18.2 %). In samples of deer feces, the intensity of Cooperia oncophora egg infestation ranged from 3.5 ± 1.5 to 4.5 ± 2.5 EGF. In the European fallow deer, a coprological examination of collected faecal samples revealed helminth eggs of Ostertagia leptospicularis in 80.0 % of animals with an average infestation intensity of 7.3 ± 2.6 EGF. As part of a two-component associative infestation, the helminth species Ostertagia leptospicularis ran together with the Tricostrongylus axei (20.0 %). The intensity of infestation with eggs of the helminth Trichostrongylus axei averaged 2.5 ± 0.5 EGF. However, in this study, the helminthic infestation was observed in most wild ruminants, but the average infestation intensity was low. In contrast to our previous study on the species distribution of parasites of red deer (Cervus elaphus), the relative abundance and prevalence of nematode eggs: Trichostrongylus, Ostertagia, Coperia, Habertia, Haemonchus, Aonchotheca (capillaria), Strongyloides and Mulleria larvae were generally much higher before deworming in animals on a deer farm. Our findings indicate that the potential for transmission of helminthic infestations is relatively low if monitoring studies on parasite infestation of wild ruminants and their planned deworming are carried out periodically.