Abstract

Objective: To establish the epidemiology of paramphistomosis in Hills and Tarai region of Uttarakhand state, India for the period from 2005 to 2007. Methods: For this purpose, 11 278 faecal samples (4 391 cattle, 2 197 buffaloes, 1 760 sheep and 2 930 goats) were collected from Hills and Tarai region of Uttarakhand for 2 years. Faecal samples were examined for the presence of paramphistomes eggs, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The data were recorded on the basis of months and prevailing seasons of the state. Results: The overall prevalence of paramphistomosis during this period in domestic ruminants was 9.69%. Also, bovines (cattle-12.4% and buffaloes-12.3%) were found to be more prone to infection as compared to small ruminants (sheep-7.4% and goats-4.9%). The peak infection was observed in the monsoon and post monsoon season (17.42%). This trend was similar for both Tarai (15%) and Hills (6.7%). The overall prevalence in Tarai was found to be 12.3% and in Hills it was 3.9%. In both Tarai and Hills region, maximum prevalence was seen in cattle with infectivity of 14% and 7.2% respectively and minimum prevalence in goat with infectivity of 8.7% and 2% respectively. Maximum mean eggs per gram was recorded in buffalo (22.05 in winter) followed by cattle (19.7 in summer), goat and sheep (18.7 and 16.33 in monsoon and post monsoon). The most common species of paramphistomes recorded were Paramphistomum cervi, Gastrothylax crumenifer and Fischoederius elongatus. Conclusions: The analysis of the data obtained revealed that prevalence was more in the Tarai region as compared to the Hills region and this pattern remained same after quantitative analysis of the samples.

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