Prevalence of parasitic infections in buffaloes in and around district Ludhiana (Punjab, India)

A total of 598 samples comprising 388 blood and 210 faecal samples were examined from buffaloes presented at Large Animal Clinics, GADVASU, Ludhiana (Punjab, India). Examination of Giemsa stained peripheral blood smears revealed an overall prevalence of haemoprotozoan infections as 4.90 percent that comprised Trypanosoma evansi, Babesia bigemina, Theileria annulata and Anaplasma marginale as 1.80, 0.26, 2.32 and 0.77 percent, respectively. Age wise the prevalence of trypanosomosis was significantly higher in older animals while haemoprotozoan infections were not recorded from male buffaloes. Faecal examination revealed that the overall prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infections was 23.33 per cent. The prevalence of strongyle, amphistomes, Fasciola sp., Eimeria sp. and Balantidium coli was 15.71, 4.29, 3.30, 0.95 and 2.86 percent, respectively. The prevalence of parasitic infections in female and male buffaloes was almost comparable except in case of coccidiosis which was significantly higher in male animals. Trematodal infections were encountered only from the animals > 6 months of age and strongylosis was recorded as predominant GI parasitic infection in buffaloes of Punjab state