Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Vol. 13 (2), December 2022 ISSN (Print): 2305 – 8722 ISSN (Online): 2521 – 8573 R A D S J . B i o l . R e s . A p p l . S c i . 157 Op e n Ac c e s s F u l l L e n g t h A r t i c l e Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Rubab Malik*, Nasira Khatoon Department of Zoology, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan. A B S T R A C T Background: Poultry production in Pakistan is growing remarkably and contributing significantly to the economy. However, disease outbreaks are the most serious threat to poultry productivity. Among other poultry diseases which cause huge damage to poultry, parasitic diseases are also included, but no significant work has been done on this area of concern in Pakistan. Objective: This study is carried out to evaluate the prevalence rate of one of the major helminth parasite groups, Cestodes, and their effects on the health of chickens in the districts of Korangi, Karachi, Sindh. Method: Between February 2018 and January 2019, 76 chickens were examined for Cestodes infection. Cestodes were extracted from the gut and fixed in F.A.A. fixative for 24 hours with a little cover slip pressure. The cestodes were then thoroughly cleaned with 70% ethanol, stained with Mayer's carmalum, dehydrated in progressively stronger alcohol, clarified with clove oil, rinsed with xylene, and permanently mounted in Canada balsam. Results: The overall prevalence was 52.6%. Parasite burden is high in males (63.8%) compared to females (45.6%). Six species of Cestodes parasites were identified from the intestine of the infected chickens. Raillietina tetragona, R. cesticillus, R. echinobothridia, R. ransomi, Choanotaenia infundibulum, and Raillietina sp. are the Cestode species that have been found. Their prevalence was 42.1%, 34.2%, 26.3%, 22.2%, 15.7%, and 7.8%, respectively. The prevalence rate also varies from season to season. Spring had the highest rate of infection at 60%, summer was next at 58%, and autumn and winter both had a rate of 40%. Conclusion: The study concludes that heavy infestation has a negative impact on the physical health of chickens and points to the need to control Cestodes parasite infection in order to reduce mortality and increase poultry yield. Keywords Poultry, Prevalence, Cestodes parasites, chickens, Karachi. *Address of Correspondence rubabmalik943@gmail.com Article info. Received: December 12, 2021 Accepted: November 01, 2022 Cite this article: Malik R, Khatoon N. Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. 2022; 13(2):157-162. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. I N T R O D U C T I O N In Pakistan, the poultry industry is a big part of the economy because it makes eggs and meat, which are the cheapest sources of protein. It contributes 29% of the total meat production of the country, 5.8% of the agriculture sector, and 1.3% of the overall GDP. It has shown excellent growth and become a source of 1.6 million people’s employment. Among other poultry diseases which cause huge damage to poultry, parasitic diseases are also included, but no significant work has been done on this area of concern in Pakistan. The common gastrointestinal helminth parasites cause negative effects on the health of chickens, which then leads to considerable damage and great economic losses to the poultry industry due to malnutrition, decreased food conversion ratio, weight loss, lower egg production, and death in young birds1. Parasites also make the flocks less resistant to diseases and make diseases worse2,3. Chicken cestodiasis not only causes loss of body weight but also may cause several problems, O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Vol. 13 (2), December 2022 ISSN (Print): 2305 – 8722 ISSN (Online): 2521 – 8573 R A D S J . B i o l . R e s . A p p l . S c i . 158 such as enteritis, loss of blood, loss of production, nervous manifestations, and death. Parasitic infection causes villous atrophy, catarrhal enteritis, granuloma formation in the duodenum, desquamation of villi and submucosal gland congestion, an inflammatory response, and vacuolation of epithelial cells4. However, poultry production in Pakistan is growing remarkably and contributing significantly to its economy. However, disease outbreaks pose the greatest threat to productivity. Among other diseases that cause huge damage to poultry, parasitic diseases are also included, but no significant work has been done on this area of concern in Pakistan. It is necessary to investigate the rate of infection of various cestode parasites in chickens. The current research aims to study the prevalence and intensity of infection of cestode parasites of Gallus domesticus and to study the difference in rate of parasitic infection in different seasons and months to analyse the effect of seasonal variation on parasitic infection. M A T E R I A L S A N D M E T H O D S The viscera of 76 freshly slaughtered chickens have been collected from common shops located in Korangi, Karachi, from February 2017 to January 2018. Samples were subjected to necroscopic and parasitological examination. Cestodes were collected from the gastrointestinal tract and preserved in Acetic acid Formalin Alcohol solution (AFA) for 8 to 12 hours. Then it is kept in 70% alcohol overnight and stained with Alum carmine for 3-5 minutes and is continuously checked to prevent overstrain. Then it is dehydrated through 70%, 90% and 100% alcohol for 20-30 minutes for each grade. It is then bathed in clove oil for 1- 2 minutes and washed in xylol for 2-3 minutes. Finally, permanent slides were prepared by using Canada balsam. Cestodes were identified under a light microscope with 10x magnification according to their morphological characteristics5. However, Pearson's coefficient of correlation 'r' was used to examine the relationship among seasons and infection prevalence. At the 5% threshold of significance (P ≤ 0.05), statistical significance was recognised. SPSS version 20 was used to analyse the data. R E S U L T S A N D D I S C U S S I O N The author intends to investigate the prevalence of cestode parasite infection in the Korangi Creek area. The sampling area is selected due to the author's residence in the area, which provides easy access to get samples. The study found that, out of 76 chickens, 40 had different species of Cestodes (Table 1). Six species belonging to three genera were found in the digestive tract of chickens. The overall prevalence of cestodes was 52.6%. Parasite burden is high in males (63.8%) as compared to females (45.6%) (Table 2). Six species of Cestodes parasites were found in the intestines of infected chickens. Raillietina tetragona, R. cesticillus, R. echinobothridia, R. ransomi, Choanotaenia infundibulum, and Raillietina species are the species of Cestodes that have been found. Their prevalence was 42.1%, 34.2%, 26.3%, 22.2%, 15.7%, and 7.8%, respectively (Table 3). Table 1. Overall prevalence of Cestodes infection. Helminthes group Host Examined Host Infected Prevalence % Cestodes 76 40 52.6 Table 2. Prevalence of Cestodes in relation to host’s sex. Sex of host Host examined Host infected Prevalence (%) Male 30 19 63.8 Female 46 21 45.6 Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Vol. 13 (2), December 2022 ISSN (Print): 2305 – 8722 ISSN (Online): 2521 – 8573 R A D S J . B i o l . R e s . A p p l . S c i . 159 Table 3. Prevalence of Cestodes parasites. Genus Host examined Host infected Prevalence (%) Raillietina tetragona 76 32 42.1 Raillietina cesticillus 76 26 34.2 Raillietina echinobothridia 76 20 26.3 Raillietina ransomi 76 17 22.2 Choanotaenia infundibulum 76 12 15.7 Raillietina sp. 76 6 7.8 Table 4. Seasonal incidence of recorded Cestodes’ Species. Season Host Examined Host Infected Prevalence % Spring 15 9 60.0 Summer 36 22 58.3 Autumn 15 6 40.0 Winter 10 3 40.0 Raillietina tetragona was reported in chicken 48.3%6 and 51.66%7 from Pakistan; 14.5%8 from Western Cameron; 21.3%9 from Tanzania; and 2.0%10 from Nigeria; 7.4%11 from Egypt; 51.42%12; and 9.16%13 from India; 57.5%14 from Thailand; 68.75%15 from Algeria; 19.68%16 from Bangladesh; and 65.94%17 from Ethiopia R. echinobothrida reported from the chicken with prevalence of 19.2% 6 from Pakistan, 10.4%18 from Iran, 48.3%14 from Northern Thailand, 25.3%19 from Nigeria, from Brazil20, 91.9%21 and 6.6%11 from Egypt, 39.86%17 from Ethiopia, 83.3%15 from Algeria, 37.83%22 from Phitsanulok province, 2.3% 23 from Trinidad, 50% 24 from Bangladesh and 46.3%9 from Tanzania while the same specie has been reported in pigeon 61.76%25 from Greece and 32%26 from Libya. R. cesticillus was reported from birds with prevalence of 56.6%24 from Bangladesh, 55.07%17 from Ethiopia, 83.5%27 from Pakistan, 23.22%28 from India, 29.1%15 from Algeria and 21.3%19 from Nigeria, 0.9%23 from Trinidad, 5.83%7 and 0.8%6 from Pakistan, 12.5%14 from Thailand and, also reported from Brazil20. Choanotaenia infundibulum was reported from Hyderabad, Pakistan, with a prevalence of 89.5%27, while Choanotaenia sp. with prevalence of 20% reported from the same host in Quetta, Pakistan6. Outside of Pakistan, the same species has been reported from Zimbabwe29, from Trinidad23, from Tanzania9, from Algeria15, from Japan30 and from Brazil31. The difference in prevalence might be due to the variation in the environmental conditions of the area32, including high temperature, humidity or dryness, annual rainfall, and the availability of intermediate hosts33, it could also be due to sharing the same habitat with migratory birds, which increases the chance of harbouring parasites34. Similar attribution is also given that environmental alterations, especially increasing temperature, may have affected the occurrence of helminth infection 14, and another author stated that more than one million birds migrate from Central Asia to Pakistan during winters. During migration, they also carry parasites, which result in new host and locality records35. Moreover, the study found that the prevalence rate also varies from season to season. The highest infection has been observed in spring at 60%, followed by summer at 58.3%, and in autumn and winter, the same infection has been observed at 40% (Table 4). This suggested that there was not enough variation in the prevalence and intensity of infection in different seasons. The results suggest that high temperatures increase the susceptibility of the hosts to parasitism6. Although parasites were discovered to be prevalent throughout the year, with a higher prevalence and parasitic load, they were found to be most prevalent in the summer season. Furthermore, multiple infections of helminth parasites have also been found in many chickens. Similarly, a high intensity of parasites has also been observed. The intestine Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Vol. 13 (2), December 2022 ISSN (Print): 2305 – 8722 ISSN (Online): 2521 – 8573 R A D S J . B i o l . R e s . A p p l . S c i . 160 was fully blocked with the worm burden. Grossly, the intestine showed a heavy infestation of Cestodes, due to which the mucosal lining of the intestine was damaged. Chronic catarrhal enteritis, hemorrhagic enteritis, and nodular enteritis have been observed. The intestinal wall was thickened and inflamed with hemorrhagic necrotic spots. Table 5. Seasonal incidence of each specie of recorded Cestodes. Season R.tetragona R.cesticillus R.echinobothrida R.ransomi Choanotaenia Infundibulum Raillietina sp. P-Value No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % Spring 8 88.8 6 66.6 4 44.4 2 22.2 2 22.2 0 0 0.028 Summer 17 77.2 15 68.1 13 59 11 50 8 36.3 4 18.1 0.002 Autumn 5 83.3 4 66.6 3 50 2 33.3 2 33.3 1 16.6 0.005 Winter 2 66.6 1 0 0 0 2 66.6 0 0 1 33.3 0.041 Table 6. Monthly incidence of different types of recorded Cestodes’ species. Month R.tetragona R.cesticillus R.echinobothridia R.ransomi Choanotaenia infundibulum Raillietina sp. P-Value No % No % No % No % No % No % Feb 3 100 2 66.6 2 66.6 1 33.3 1 33.3 0 0 0.017 Mar 2 100 2 100 1 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.093 Apr 3 75 2 50 1 25 1 25 1 25 0 0 0.025 May 7 77.7 7 77.7 6 66.6 5 55.5 3 33.3 2 22.2 0.002 Jun 3 75 3 75 2 50 2 50 2 50 1 25 0.001 Jul 7 77.7 5 55.5 5 55.5 4 44.4 3 33.3 1 11.1 0.004 Aug 1 100 0 0 1 100 1 100 1 100 1 100 0.004 Sep 2 100 2 100 1 50 1 50 1 50 0 0 0.013 Oct 2 66.6 2 66.6 1 33.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.093 Nov 1 50 1 50 0 0 2 100 0 0 0 0 0.102 Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jan 1 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 100 0.175 Prevalence of Cestode Parasites of Gallus Domesticus in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Vol. 13 (2), December 2022 ISSN (Print): 2305 – 8722 ISSN (Online): 2521 – 8573 R A D S J . B i o l . R e s . A p p l . S c i . 161 C O N C L U S I O N The present study concludes that the prevalence of parasitic infection by cestodes is very high, resulting in the mortality of chickens. The high prevalence of infection leads to invisible production and economic losses. Raring area, season, availability, and contact with the intermediate host also affect the prevalence and intensity of infection. Based on the result, the following recommendations are forwarded: As the cestodes parasites have a sub-clinical occurrence, studies that focus on these ideas should be conducted. The public, especially those who are related to poultry farming, should be aware of the occurrence and economic significance of gastrointestinal parasites. Elimination of intermediate hosts in the rearing area and extensive early-season larval control have been recommended. E T H I C A L A P P R O V A L Not required. C O N F L I C T S O F I N T E R S T No conflict of interest. F U N D I N G S O U R C E None. A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S I am thankful to my supervisor for her guidance and support. L I S T O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S AFA Acetic acid Formalin Alcohol GDP Gross Domestic Product R E F E R E N C E S 1. Puttalakshmamma GC, Mamatha PR, Rao S. 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