Prevalence study of zoonotic gastrointestinal parasitic infections in goats in Makurdi Metropolis, Nigeria

Zoonotic infections pose a significant public health threat. Because of the close contact between diseases of domestic animals and humans, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of zoonotic gastrointestinal parasitic infections in goats in three selected abattoirs in the Makurdi metropolis. For this purpose, a total of 150 fecal samples were collected from July through October 2013, using a random sampling method. Wet mount and Formol-ether sedimentation techniques were used to prepare the specimens, which were subsequently examined using a compound microscope (40 X) to identify characteristic eggs of the parasites in goats. The Chi-Square test at a significant level of 0.05 was used for data analyses. Of the 150 fecal specimens examined, 143 (95.33%) were infected with at least one gastrointestinal parasite. Altogether, eight parasites were identified among the 143 positive specimens- Strongyloides papillosus 43 (28.7%), Fasciola gigantica 37 (24.7%), Trichuruis spp 25 (16.7%), Giardia spp 13 (8.7%), Marshallagia marshalli 9 (6.0%), Cryptosporidium spp 8 (5.3%), Eimeria spp 5 (3.3%), and Trichostrongyle spp 3 (2.0%). Three zoonotic parasitic infections were detected (i.e., Giardia spp, Cryptosporidium spp, and Eimeria spp) with an overall prevalence of 17.3%. This study shows that zoonotic gastrointestinal parasites are prevalent among goats slaughtered at abattoirs in the Makurdi metropolis. Given the public health implications of gastrointestinal parasites in goats, health education, personal hygiene, and the control of these parasites among goats are recommended.