Pertanika 15(3),221-224 (1992)

Observations on the Worm Egg Counts and Their NematodeSpecies in Goats from the North-East District of

Penang Island, Peninsular Malaysia

WAHAB A. RAHMAN & ADANAN CHE' ROSSchool of Biological Sciences,

Universiti Sains J\1alaysia, Minden,11800 Penang, Malaysia

Keywords: goats, Penang Island, faecal egg counts, faecal cultures, nematodes.

ABSTRAK

Kiraan telur cacing dalam najis dan kehadiran spesis-spesis nemalod pada kambing da-ripada tujuh kandangkambing yang keal di daerah Timur Laul, Pulau Pinang lelah dikaji. Secara amnya kiraan telur adalah tinggi,berjulat antara 500 - 2000 epg. Keadaan iklim didaerah ini adalah s<suai bagi kehidupan dan perkembangansekurang-kurangnya lima spesis nematod iaitu Cooperia spp., Haemonchus spp., Oesophagostomum spp.,Strongyloides spp., dan Trichostrongylus spp. Di antara kelima-ama spero ini Haemonchus spp. adalahyang paling dominan.

ABSTRACT

The faecal worm egg counts and the prevalence of nematode species in goats from seven smallholder goat farms inthe north-east district of Penang Island were investigated. Generally the egg counts were moderately heavy, rangingfrom 500 - 2000 epg. The climatic conditions oj the distlict seemed favourable for the survival and develo/itIlentof at least five species of nematodes, namely Cooperia spp. Haemonchus spp., Oesophagostomun sfrp.,Strongyloides spp., and Trichostrongylus spp., of which Haemonchus spp. seemed to predominate.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years more attention and interest havebeen focused on the development of the Malaysiangoat industry. However, its development has beenconstrained by various problems, which includenutrition, breeds, feeds and diseases. Perhapsone of the most important aspects of diseasesaffecting the health of the animal is worm in­festation.

In a review of the trichostrongylid nematodesin the abomasum of goats (Capra hircus) in thetropics Rahman (1989) listed various species ofnematodes commonly found in tropical goats, ofwhich Haemonchus spp., Ostertagia spp., andTlichostrongylusspp. were dominant. Shanta (1982)listed some species of helminths frequently en­countered in Malaysian goats, and found thatHaemonchus spp., Trichostrongylus spp. andOesophagostomum spp. predominate. However, theprevalence of these nematodes was not reponed.Ikeme et at. (1986) monitored the numbers ofinfective laJVae of nematodes artificially intro-

duced into pasture. More recently, incidences ofvarious parasites in goats have also been reportedby Sheikh Omar & Chulan (1980), Sani et al.(1985) and Amin Babjee et at. (1990) from thecentral pan of Peninsular Malaysia.

The present investigation was carried out toassess and record the prevalence of the variousspecies of nematodes commonly found in goatsin Penang Island, off the coast of PeninsularMalaysia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

General

Seven smallholder goat farms located in the north­eastern district of Penang Island, off the westcoast of Peninsular Malaysia, were selected forthe study. These goat farms were located at Airltam, Gelugor, Island Glades, Jelutong, PerakRoad, Kampong Kastam and Sungai ibong. Thenumber of goats at each of these farms variedbetween 56 and 78 animals and all animals grazedfreely in the surrounding areas. All goats were of

WAHAB A. RAH~li\N & :\DA 'Ai~ CHE' ROS

the local indigenous variety (kambing kacang)and raised solely for their meat. All animals hadnot been lfeated with any anthelmintic duringthe previous six months. Samples were collectedonce. This was carried out in the month ofJanual)' 1990, which is the dry season for this partof the country.

CoLlection and examination ofJaecal samples

Faecal samples were collected from the rectum ofeach goat and brought back to the laboratory forexamination. Faecal worm egg counts were madeby the tmiversal flotation technique (Whitlock1948). Two replicates were counted and the meanof the two recorded. The remainder of the faecalsamples was used for cultures.

Culture oJ faeces and examination of la11Jae

All faecal samples from each farm were pooled.Using a spatula, faecal samples were broken intopieces in a petri dish partially filled with distilledwater. The faecal mesh was then smeared ontoone side of wet filter papers cut to a size approxi·mately 14 x 2 em, but leaving about 4 em at bothends of the paper free of any faecal smear. Each

eggslgm faeces

pit:ce of filter paper was then rolled and placedin Lo a glass tesHube filled with about 3 ml ofdistllled water. The test-tube was then closed witha rubber stopper and incubated at 30°C for 7days.

After incubation the filter paper was removedfrom the test-tube. The sides of the test-tube werewashed with distilled water so that any lan'ae onthe sides would be washed down to the bottom orthe test-rube. One hundred larvae were obtainedfrom each culture and identified according tothe descriptions of Dikmans and Andrews (1933)and Gordon (1933).

RESULTS

Faecal egg counts in all farms were moderatelyhigh, ranging from 500 - 2000 epg; at least 4 of thefarms had egg counts of more than 1000 (Fig. 1).The mean value for the total number of eggs forall the fanns was 1186 eggs/gm faeces.

Five species of nematodes were recorded.although in 4 fanns fewer than 5 species wererecovered (Table 1). The species identified fromthe cultures were Cooperia spp., Haemonchus spp.,Oesophagostomum spp., Strongyloides spp., and

2000

1500

1000

500

oA. Ilam Gelugor I.Glades Jelulong Jalan P.

RamleeK." Kastam S. Nibong

222

Location of farms

Fig. 1: Mean faecal egg counts ofgoats Jmm sampling sites in the norlh-east district ofPenollg Island

PERTANIKA VOL. 15 NO.3, 1992

WORMEGGCOU TS AND THEIR NEMATODE SPECIES IN GOATS

TABLE 1Percentages of various species of nematodes found in faecal samples of

goats at various sampiing sites in north-eastern district of Penang Island.

Species of Sampling sitesnematodes

A.Itam Gelugor I.Glades Jtg. Perak Rd. Kastam Sg. ibong

Cooperia 4 10 5 9 0 0 8

Haemonchus 42 34 50 41 50 60 56

Oesophagostomum 13 18 15 22 8 18 13

Strongyloides 19 29 30 19 31 22 23

Trichostrongylus 22 9 0 9 11 0 0

No. of species 5 5 4 5 4 3 4

Trichostrongylus spp. The most dominant specieswas Haemonchus spp., which comprised about45.7% of the total nematode population of goatsfor the whole district, followed by Strongyloidesspp. and Oesophagostomum spp. which formedabout 24.0% and 12.9% respectively of the wormpopulation (Fig. 2). The least common nema­todes were Trichostrongylus spp. and Cooperia spp.which comprised only 10.4% and 7.0% respec­tively of the worm cultures.

DISCUSSION

The results of the present study showed themean number of eggs was moderately high.Such high numbers may be predicted to cause

50% ,..-------------------

.40%

Nematode worm specIes

_ Cooperia ~ Heamonchus Q Desophagost ~ Ostertagia

[!!] Strongyloides § Triche

Fig. 2: Percentages of various species of nematodes in faecalcultures obtained from the north-east district ofPenang Island.

poor health in goats. The study was carried outduring the hot and dry season of the year whenpasture growth was poor. In such an environmentonly a small percentage of eggs would be ex­pected to develop into infective larvae, butpresumably infections would have taken placemuch earlier in November and December whichwere quite wet months.

It is well known that the development andsurvival of the pre-parasitic and the infectivestages of strongylate nematodes of ruminantsare determined by climatic factors, notablytemperature and moisture (Dinaburg 1945; Kates1950; Gordon 1948; Crofton 1963). The north­east district of Penang Island receives a monthlyrainfall of more than 90 mm and has a meanmonthly temperature of about 28·C. The pre­vailing climatic conditions are ideal for thesurvival and development of most nematodesspecies, especially Haemonchus spp. andStrongyloides spp., which explains their high preva­lence in the present study. Strongyloides spp.infect their host mainly percutaneously, andconstant removal of excrement from the floorsof the goat barns is important in controlling theparasite. However, this was not practised by thefarmers of the study area, thus contributing tothe high prevalence of this parasite.

Studies by Dinaburg (1945) and Kates (1950)showed that the climatic conditions for optimaltransmission of Oesophagostomum are similar toHaemonchus. But its prevalence is much lowerthan that of Haemonchus (see Fig. 2), and needssome explanation; although this worm also has a

PERTANIKA VOL. 15 NO.3, 1992 223

WAHAB A. RAHMAN & ADANAN CHE' ROS

high fecundity constant (Crofton 1957), it has,however, a very long generation interval of 45days (Crofton 1957).

High temperatures and drought have beenshown to injure severely the free-living stages ofTrichostrongylus (Crofton 1963), and therefore itis reasonable to assume that whilst Trichostrongylusmay flourish during the wet season on the islandof Penang (Rahman 1992), it proved otherwisewhen conditions were hot and dry. Generally,Cooperia has always been considered as compara­tively a poor producer of eggs (Kates 1947;Crofton 1963; ickel 1965), as shown by its lowprevalence in the present study.

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(Received 5 December 1991)

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