Journal of Veterinary Parasitology

A total of 719 faecal samples were collected from the horses of five animal fairs held at Pushkar (Ajmer), Nagaur, Mertacity (Nagaur), Hanumangarh and Tilwara (Barmer) in Rajasthan during 2009–10. Quantitative examination of fecal sample of horses showed overall mean epg counts of 187.16±7.52 for gastrointestinal helminth parasites. The maximum overall mean epg of 279.37±29.65 was recorded for Parascaris equorum followed by 201.20±12.28 for strongyle, 172.84±24.80 for Strongyloides westeri and 89.20±7.19 epg for Habronema. The horses of Pushkar and Nagaur fairs showed significantly higher intensity of gastrointestinal helminth parasites (221.15±21.95 and 220.93±17.07 epg, respectively) than Hanumangarh (170.83±13019 epg), Merta City (167.07±17.48 epg) and Tilwara (155.84±12.75 epg) fairs. The horses below 3 years of age showed a significantly higher epg (207.77±8.99) of gastrointestinal helminth parasites than 3–5 years (132.83±13.36) and above 5 years (153.40±16.49) of age groups. Sex had no significant effect on the intensity of any parasitic infections detected.