The findings of this study showed that all the cattle screened had helminth infection, thus providing valuable information on the burden of helminths among cattle in sampled areas.
The overall prevalence of 100% of GI parasite infection obtained in this study was higher than those by [19] and [20] who reported a prevalence of 47.4% and 41.6% in South-South and South-West Nigeria respectively. It was also higher than 50.8% and 62.1% earlier reported in South-Eastern and South-South Nigeria by [4] and [21] respectively.
The difference in the prevalence obtained could be attributed to the existence of favourable environmental factors necessary for the prolonged survival and development of infective larval stage of most helminths [22], variation in sample size and management system. [23] reported that animals that are solely graze on pasture throughout the year are prone to the effect of seasonal variation of availability of forgeable feed and then difference in plane of nutrition.
Strongyle eggs, Trichostrongylus, Nematodirus, Neoascaris vitulorum, Strongyloides spp, Capillaria spp and Trichuris spp, Moniezia benedini, Moniezia expansa, Taenia egg, Schistosoma eggs and Eimeria oocyst were identified in this study using simple flotation, modified centrifugal faecal flotation and Mini-FLOTAC techniques
An important observation from this study is that the Capillaria eggs detected is from Muturu breed of cattle sampled in a rural Area. In this area, many people defecate on the farmland and these animals are grazed on the same farmland that had been contaminated with human faeces. Although bovine coprological examination carried out by various researchers in other countries reported Capillaria spp as one of the parasite elements detected [24], to date no such report has been made from cattle in Nigeria.
The sensitivity of Mini-FLOTAC using salt/sugar solution is higher compared to the salt/sugar modified centrifugal faecal flotation. This diagnostic assessment clearly indicated that the solution was the best under the Mini-FLOTAC technique.
In general, diagnostic assessment of the five flotation solutions clearly indicated that salt/sugar solution gave the optimum results under each faecal test for the three techniques compared to other solutions suggesting that the solution is highly efficient in the diagnosis of parasite elements, Salt/sugar is easy to prepare, the solute is readily available, does not grow mouldy unlike sugar solution, does not crystalize or form cast, does not require preservative, it is not sticky or messy to work with, non-toxic to the environment and finally it has excellent clarity under the microscope.
One plausible explanation for the superior performance of the salt/sugar solution under each technique is that salt helps in homogenization of faeces and sugar which is more viscous make it the Parasite elements appear clearer with increasing chance of detection [25].
For the diagnostic techniques, Mini-FLOTAC produced optimum results compared to the other two conventional techniques (Simple Faecal Flotation and Modified Centrifugal Faecal Flotation) especially with the use of salt/sugar as flotation solution. Also, Mini-FLOTAC apparatus is heat resistant, re-useable after thorough washing, has excellent clarity under the microscope, does not require centrifugation and is good for both qualitative and quantitative faecal analysis.
Findings from this study showed that only salt/sugar solution was highly efficient in detecting the eleven genera of bovine gastrointestinal parasites identified in this study using Mini-FLOTAC technique. This further support RCV/FAO recommendation that salt/sugar flotation solution is a general-purpose flotation solution.
This is the first-time salt/sugar and sugar flotation solutions were used with Mini-FLOTAC technique, just recently Salt/Glucose was used by the inventors [13] on a test running scheme, salt solution (Nacl) and zinc sulphate are the only two flotation solutions used for the Mini-FLOTAC technique [26]
The excellent performance of salt/sugar solution under Mini-FLOTAC technique from this study supported the report by [26] that the sensitivity of the Mini-FLOTAC technique is highly dependent on the flotation solution used.
In terms of diagnosis of co-infection, Mini-FLOTAC technique performed better than the other two techniques showing that Mini-FLOTAC is a more sensitive technique.
The only protozoa parasite detected by the three parasitological techniques is Eimeria oocyst which shows that it is the most prevalence protozoa parasite in the sampled area. This finding is like that of [13] which reported Eimeria oocyst as the only protozoan parasite detected using Mini-FLOTAC technique.
Based on the performance of salt/sugar flotation solution under each technique for this study, the use of salt/sugar as flotation solution in the laboratory is recommended.
For routine diagnosis, Mini-FLOTAC can be adopted because of the ease of usage.
The use of Mini-FLOTAC needs to be promoted in developing countries particularly in the laboratory with resource-limited settings.
LIMITATIONS
- Mini-FLOTAC to work with is quite expensive for routine use in Nigeria
- Paucity of funds to work with to get quality work done.
- Limited sample size due to cost implications.
- No support to do quality research