Parasitic Diseases as a cause of Mortality in Commercial Chicken in Kenya: A Quantitative Retrospective Study

A 10-year retrospective study was conducted to determine the role of parasitic diseases as causes of mortalities in chickens brought to the postmortem facility of the veterinary school of the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Parasitic diseases caused deaths in 786(26%) chicken out of 2975 dead from a combination of diseases. The major contributor of mortalities was acute coccidiosis, accounting for 77% of all parasitic cases. Helminthosis, mainly from Ascaridia galli was the second most important parasitic disease, this nematode alone accounted for 21% of all parasitic cases. Other parasitic conditions, which were of rare occurrence, were histomoniosis and ectoparasites e.g. mites, fleas. Based on such findings it was concluded that viable protozoan and helminth control strategies should be devised, in order to reduce effects of these diseases and thereby permit improved productivity. The Kenya Veterinarian Vol. 25 2002: pp. 40-4