Efficacy of aqueous extract of Vernonia amygdalina leaf against strongyle and coccidia infections in sheep

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasites are developing resistance to various commercial anthelmintics. Hence, the need to explore the efficacies of herbal plants against gastrointestinal parasites. The study was therefore conducted to determine the efficacy of aqueous extract of Vernonia amygdalina leaf against strongyles and coccidia spp. in sheep. A total of 60 sheep were used for the study. The animals were randomly assigned to one of the four groups. Those in group A, B, C, and D were given albendazole (ABZ), 10% aqueous V. amygdalina extract (BL10) , 20% aqueous V. amygdalina extract (BL20), and 10 mL distilled water, respectively. All four treatments were given orally, depending on the body weight of the animals, with the exception of the distilled water, which was constant (10 mL) for each animal. Faecal samples were collected from each sheep and examined using McMaster technique. The data were analyzed using R version 4.2. The study brought to light that the prevalence of strongyles in sheep was 70% in the study area at pre-treatment. BL10 had efficacies of 52.58% and 65.08% against strongyles and coccidia spp., respectively. BL20 produced similar anthelmintic effect against strongyles as ABZ. Strongyle spp. showed resistance against ABZ in the study area.