Haemoparasitic infection and haematological indices of cattle slaughtered for sale in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Due to economic losses to livestock producers caused by haemoparasitic infection, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of haemoparasites and some haematological parameters of slaughtered trade cattle in Calabar abattoir. A total of 180 blood samples were randomly collected from cattle between May and October 2018. The samples were screened for haemoparasites by examining Giemsa stained thin blood films. Packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, total red blood cell counts and total white blood cell counts were determined using standard methods. An overall prevalence of 14(7.78%) was recorded for Anaplasma (2.22%) and Trypanosoma sp. (5.56%). Older cattle (10%) were more infected than younger Cattle (5%). There was significant difference (p