Prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in hot and humid zone of West Bengal

A survey was carried out to find out the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths in cattle in hot and humid zone of West Bengal in respect of breed, managemental conditions, age of animal and season. A total of 1097 number of faecal samples were collected and examined from 52 villages of Amta and surrounding blocks of West Bengal during the period from April 2002 to October 2005. The overall infection rate was 76.17% and in cross bred cattle the infection rate was 72.55% and in non-descript cattle it was 80.65%. The infection rate was significantly lower (70.34%) in stall-fed animals than the animals which were managed semi-intensively (82.14%). Age wise infection rate was 77.38%, 81.43% and 70.45% in the animals below 1 year, within 1–3 years and above 3 years of age, respectively. Highest infection rate was observed during summer season (88.24%) followed by rainy season (82.76%), spring season (80.88%) and autumn (72.73%). The infection rate was significantly (P<0.05) lower in winter months (60.00%). Prevalence of strongyle infection was highest (64.04%) followed by amphistomes (53.02%), Schistosoma spp. (7.85%), Ascaris spp. (6.01%), Strongyloides spp. (5.23%), Trichuris spp. (2.15%), cestodes (1.56%) and Fasciola spp. (0.89%). The intermediate host (fresh water snails) for trematode infection was also surveyed and Indoplanorbis exustus, Lymnaea auricularia and Melanoides spp. were identified as predominant snails.