—NOTE— Prevalence and Significance of Parasites of Horses in Some States

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and significance of parasites of horses in northern Nigeria. Blood and faecal samples were randomly collected from 243 horses from different stables in some states of northern Nigeria for laboratory anal-yses. Fifty-seven horses (23.5%) were found infected with parasites. The hemoparasites detected, 21 (8.6%), include Theileria equi, Babesia caballi, Trypanosoma vivax and Trypanosoma evansi. The endoparasites encountered, 29 (11.9%) were Strongylus spp., Strongyloides spp., Oxyuris equi, Parascaris equorum, Paragonimus spp. and Dicro-coelium spp., 3 (1.2%) was Eimeria spp. Four horses (1.6%) had mixed infection of hemo- and endoparasites. This preliminary finding shows that parasitism is a problem in the horse stables examined, and calls for proper stable hygiene, routine tick control and regular deworming programme. Key words: horses, parasites, Nigeria, stables Parasite represents a significant threat to the health of animals [1, 9]. The horse is susceptible to more than 60 parasites, and may harbour several species of worms a