Gasterophilus spp. larvae infection rates and seasonal variation in donkeys autopsied in Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan

Abstract

During a twelve months survey, 92 donkeys were necropsied for Gasterophilus spp. larvae in Nyala, South Darfur, Sudan. In the course of the survey, Gasterophilus intestinalis were recorded from 92.4% of examined donkeys whereas 77.2% of animals were infected with Gasterophilus nasalis. The percentage of infected animals with Gasterophilus haemorrhoidalis was 72.2 %. The overall infection rate with the parasites was 92.4%. The infection rate of Gasterophilus larvae was high throughout the year; it was higher in the cold dry season followed by hot wet and hot dry seasons. Most of infection was mixed, 60(70.6%) of the infected donkeys showed triple infection, while 21(24.7%) harboured double infection and only 4 (4.7%) of examined donkeys had single infection. The prevalence rate was differed between age groups, showing high percentage in donkeys more than five years old than other age groups of animals. Middle-aged animals gave higher average number of larvae per animal infected than other age groups. With the flowing reports of adverse health effects of Gasterophilus larvae, these findings provide a base for further studies to determine the infection rate in donkeys from other regions of the Sudan as well as evaluation of control measurements.