Prevalence of Parasite and Occurrence of Co-Infection in Pigs Reared in Extensive Farms in Gombe State, Nigeria

Aims: The study aimed to determine the prevalence and occurrence of parasites of pigs reared in extensive farms in Billiri and Kaltungo Local Government Areas of Gombe State, Nigeria.

Study Design: Quantitative Study Design.

Place and Duration of Study: Samples were collected in Billiri and Kaltungo Local Government Areas of Gombe State, Nigeria.

Methodology: The laboratory analyzed six hundred fresh faecal samples collected from the rectum of pigs within two Local Government areas through floatation and sedimentation techniques. The data obtained was analyzed using chi-square goodness of fit to determine if there was a significant association between infection in the pigs and the various parameters studied at a 5% level of significance.

Results: This study identified sixteen parasites: protozoan, Platyhelminthes and nematodes, and coccidia. The prevalence of parasites in the study area is 83.0%, Billiri had 252 (84.0%) infected pigs out of 300 samples collected and Kaltungo had 246 (82.0%) infected pigs out of the 300 samples collected. The difference in the prevalence between the two study locations is not statistically significant (p˃ 0.05). In relation to the age and sex of pigs sampled from Billiri Local Government Area, adult males had a higher infection rate (94.7%) compared to the females (84.6%), also, the young males had a higher infection rate (84.4%) compared to young females (76.7%). On the other hand, the results obtained from Kaltungo showed that adult females had a higher infection rate (78.3%) compared to adult males (75.0%) while young males had a higher prevalence (84.3%) compared to young females (83.3%). However, the variations are not statistically significant (p˃ 0.05). Also, there is a significant difference between single and mixed infections across the study areas.

Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the prevalence of parasites based on the location, age, and sex of pigs. However, there is significant difference in the occurrence of single and co-infection across the two study locations; single infection was significantly higher in Kaltungo while co-infection infections were significantly higher in Billiri. This indicates the need for effective parasite control measures, including prophylactic and therapeutic anthelmintic programmes. This will enhance the productivity of pigs in the study locations and ensure the availability of safe pork for public consumption.