Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of poultry in rural and peri-urban farms of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Abstract

Abstract The main objective of this study was to evaluate the helminth parasites encountered in poultry farms in the peri-urban and rural areas of Bobo-Dioulasso. A total of 160 fecal samples were collected from poultry breeding farms in 2 chicken breeds (exotic and local) and 2 areas (rural and peri-urban). The fecal samples was examined by the flotation method using saturated sodium chloride solution. McMaster technique was used to observe and quantify the oocysts of the different gastrointestinal parasites on the slide. The actors surveyed are all male literate with an average age of 48 ± 8.50 years. The average number held by the actors is 3023 ± 1865 chicken heads. They all have poultry farming as their main activity with an average of 12 ± 5.50 years, only 5% practice agriculture in addition to poultry activity. Of the 160 samples tested, 114 were positive, given an overall prevalence rate of 71.25%. The prevalence rate was significantly influenced by the area (𝜒2 = 11.06, df = 1, 𝑃 < 0.001) and the type of intestinal parasite (𝜒2 = 155.65, df = 2, 𝑃 < 0.001). Three types of gastrointestinal nematodes were responsible of these infections therefore Eimeria sp (53.13 ± 50.06%), Heterakis sp (43.13 ± 49.68%) and Ascaris sp (0.63 ± 7.91%). In positive samples, the number of parasites was found to be between 10 and 85000 for oocysts of Eimeria sp, 15 and 2300 for Heterakis sp and 100 for Ascaris sp. The majority of infections in urban area were caused by Eimeria sp (94.12%, p = 0.003), except on one farm where a Heterakis sp infection was encountered. However, in rural area, all intestinal parasites were encountered, with similar level of infections (p = 0.9) between Eimeria sp (50%) and Heterakis sp (49.30%), and which were significantly higher than infections due to Acaris sp (0.07%, p < 0.001). In rural area, mixed infections with Eimeria sp and Heterakis sp or Eimeria sp, Heterakis sp and Ascaris sp were observed in 41.24% and 1.03% respectively of the positive farms. The chicken breed has no significate on the prevalence (𝜒2 = 0.98, df = 1, 𝑃 = 0.3) but the local breed had the high prevalence of intestinal parasites of 77.92% as compared with exotic breed 65.06%. The results showed a high rate of intestinal parasites in poultry farm in rural and peri-urban areas of Bobo-Dioulasso. Therefore, further investigations and design appropriate control strategies in improving management of farms are necessary and strongly recommended.