Epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasites of one- humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) slaughtered in Sokoto central abattoir, Sokoto state, Nigeria

A parasitological examination was conducted using a Zinc Sulphate floatation technique which employed on the faecal samples of one hundred and fifty (150) camels comprising of both male and female. The camels were managed extensively together with other livestocks. A total of 131 (87.3%) samples were found to be positive for the three genera of helminthes, namely; Nematodes (77.8%), Trematodes (5.6%) and Cestodes (5.6%) and 19 (12.8%) of the samples were found to be negative for any parasite. Out of 85 (56.7%) number of male sample collected, 80 (53.3%) were found to be positive and out of the 65 (43.3%) of the female samples collected, 51 (34.0%) was found to be positive. Sixteen (16) different types of parasites were found to be infecting the animals examined. Mixed infection with more than one genus of helminthes was also observed. The parasites encountered in this study have economic and public health significance, thus, there is a need for the enlightment of camel owners for the need to deworm their animals in respect to it’s zoonotic potentials in countries with significant population of camels

Keywords:

Abattoir , Camel (Camelus dromedarius) , Gastrointestinal parasites , Nigeria , Slaughter , Sokoto ,