"Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Buffalo and Cow Calves in Rural Areas of Rawalpindi, Pakistan"

Abstract

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Parasites in Buffalo and Cow Calves in Rural Areas of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence and burden of gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in Cow and buffaloes Calves in rural areas of Rawalpindi. Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infection is a serious issue in cattle management. Effects of GI parasites may vary with age, sex of cattle, nutritional condition, and severity of infection. A total of 300 calves were used in this investigation (150 of each buffalo and cow). According to the findings, worm infection was found in 68.67% of buffalo and 51.33% of cow calves. Nematodes had the highest prevalence, followed by mixed infection and cestodes, while no calf tested positive for trematodes. Buffalo and cow calves aged 1 to 6 months had the highest incidence (79.27%, 67.11%) when compared to the age range of 7 to 12 months (55.88%, 35.14%). Grazing calves were more infectious (75.61% buffalo calves, 73.68% cow calves) than stall fed calves (60.29% buffalo calves, 28.38% cow calves). Male buffalo calves were more afflicted (70.73%) than female buffalo calves (66.18%), whereas Male cow calves were (55.26%) as compare with female cow calves (47.30%) affected.