Association of Balantidium coli and intestinal coccidia (Eimeria, Cryptosporidium, Isospora) in domestic pigs in Azerbaijan

The purpose of our work is to determine the prevalence of associative infections of domestic pigs in the farms of Azerbaijan. The research was conducted in 2009–2015. The faeces samples were taken from 2272 domestic pigs of different ages kept in private farms in the districts of Balaken, Zagatala, Shamakhi, Ismayilli, Guba, Khachmaz, Khudat, Salyan and Absheron peninsula in Azerbaijan, in the region of the Great Caucasus. Species composition, infection intensity, and ecological features of the pig parasitic protozoans had not been studied prior to our research. In the course of our study, the associative invasions in domestic pigs were as follows: Eimeria and Isospora oocysts were found in 582 pigs (25.6 % out of the total animals examined), Eimeria and Cryptosporidium oocysts in 622 pigs (27.4 %), Eimeria oocysts with Balantidium cysts in 273 pigs (12.0 %), Isospora and Balantidium oocysts in 18 pigs (0.8 %), Eimeria, Isospora and Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in mixed form from one pig only (0.04 %). None of the analysed faecal samples contained a four-component mixed parasitic invasion. The two-component mixed infestations, viz. Eimeriosis + Cryptosporidiosis and Eimeriosis + Isosporiasis, were recorded during the whole year, while the prevalence of Eimeriosis + Balantidiosis and Isosporiasis + Balantidiosis mixed infestations decreased in summer. Keeping pigs of different ages in one pen at the farms increases the risk of associative invasion. In the pig farms equipped with various technological devices, the epizootic situation is different. If the animals kept traditionally, the infestation with associative invasions is much higher. Among the animals that live in unventilated pens with a wooden floor, the intensity of mixed infestation is the highest that results in the extremely high economic loss in such farms. In the animals kept in warm pens with high humidity, the invasion intensity is high even in winter. The primary reasons of this phenomenon are heat and humidity that create favourable conditions for the exogenous development of coccidian oocysts.