Investigating the Epidemiology and Prevalence of Helminths in Livestock Health in Niger Delta Region: Implications for Human Health

Gastrointestinal helminths represent important human and animal pathogen impacting on farming systems, they are a major cause of ill-thrift and production loss in the specter of livestock species and humanity. Morbidity and mortality rate of helminth infection in these areas are unquantifiable due to inadequate/inaccurate data, especially in the fast growing Niger Delta regions of Nigeria. There is a dearth of studies using a specific diagnostic test and covering wider geographical areas and different management systems. This article aims to investigate the epidemiology, prevalence, and burden of helminthes in livestock and its implication on human, using anthelmintics and other means of parasite control. Fecal samples of 4050 cattle were obtained for coprological examination from nine Niger Delta Regions from cattle rearing ranches and pens where cattle are kept before slaughter were investigated, from May 2013 to March 2014. Respective genera of Fasciola (17.01%), Paramphistomum (15.06%), Strongyle (13.01%), Monezia (2.48%), Toxocara (1.03%) and Trichuris (0. 91%) were identified.  Males had relatively higher helminth infection than females with mixed infection prevalence. Finding suggests that cattle in the Niger Delta Region may be subclinical carriers of helminthes. Public enlightenment of the farmers about the disease, and appropriate national control measures are recommended.