TY - JOUR AU - Mahmuda, Aliyu AU - Alhaji Mohammed, Aminu AU - O Alayande, Musbau AU - Alhaji Magaji, Abdullahi AU - Danlami Salihu, Mohammed AU - Popoola Fabiyi, Joseph AU - Dalhatu Lawal, Mohammed AU - Yakubu, Yusuf AU - Mahmud, Usman AU - Danmaigoro, Abubakar PY - 2012/09/29 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Seasonal prevalence of gastrointestinal nematodes of calves in Sokoto northwestern Nigeria JF - Scientific Journal of Veterinary Advances JA - Sci. J. Vet. Adv. VL - 1 IS - 3 SE - DO - UR - http://sjournals.com/index.php/sjva/article/view/1490 SP - 82-89 AB - <p>This study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence and distribution of gastrointestinal nematodes of calves in Sokoto metropolis. A total of 216 faecal samples from 54 calves were examined using Simple faecal floatation and Modified McMaster techniques for morphological egg differentiation and count of worm-egg per gram of faeces respectively. Positive samples were cultured to differentiate between morphologically indistinguishable nematode genera. An overall prevalence was found to be 133 (61.57%). The seasonal prevalence was found to be highest 40 (74.07%) during the early dry season, while the lowest prevalence was observed to be 19 (35.18%) in the early rainy season. Eight different nematode genera were identified with&nbsp;<em>Cooperia&nbsp;</em>spp being highest in prevalence (28.78%) followed by&nbsp;<em>Haemonchus&nbsp;</em>spp (26.76%) and the least was&nbsp;<em>Toxocara&nbsp;</em>spp (0.50%). The prevalence was generally higher in females (56.39%) than in males (43.61%). Statistically significant association (p&lt;0.05) between the prevalence of the parasites and the different seasons was observed. Prevalence was low in indigenous breeds, Sokoto Gudali (15.04%) which is relatively resistant to helminthosis compared to crossbreeds (32.33%) and exotic, Friesian (52.63%) breeds. It is concluded that the late rainy and early dry seasons are conducive for the successive perpetuation of these parasites and therefore enhances subsequent transmission to susceptible hosts.</p> ER -