A study on gastrointestinal helminths of camels in Mashhad abattoir, Iran

Abattoir survey was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths and the seasonal fluctuations in intestinal worm burdens and faecal worm egg counts of camel in Khorasan Razavi province in the northeast of Iran. A total of 306 dromedaries (Camelus dromedarius) in the Mashhad abattoir, in the northeast of Iran and the capital of Khorasanprovince were examined between October 2007 and September 2008. By coproscopy examinations, 75.1% ofdromedaries were found to be harboring different types of nematod eggs. Faecal flotation revealed the presence of Nematodirus, Strongyloides, Trishuris, Marshallagia, stongyle type nematode eggs. In addition, gastrointestinaltracts of 50 camels slaughtered in the Mashhad abattoir were used for identification and count of helminths. Postmortem examinations revealed that the prevalence of helminths were Trichostrongylus probolurus(64%), Trichuris globulosa(40%), Camelostrongylus mentulatus(38%), T. colubriformis(34%), Stilesia globipunctata (30%), Nematodirella dromedarii(22%), Haemonchus longistipes (18%), Nematodirus oiratianus(16%), Cooperia oncophora (16%),  Trichuris barbetonensis(10%),  Parabronema skrjabini(10%),  Nematodirella cameli(10%), Marshallagia marshalli(4%), Teladorsagia circumcincta (4%), Moniezia benedeni(3%), Moniezia expansa (3%) andTrichostrongylus vitrinus(2%).  Nematodirella dromedarii,  Trichostrongylus probolurus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Cooperia oncophora, and Nematodirus oiratianus, were identified from dromedary in Iran for the first time. The pathological lesions in the affected abomasums, as well as small and large intestines, were hyperaemic and thickened mucosa with haemorrhagic foci. Histopathological examination revealed inflammatory reaction in the abomasa, flattened mucosa and villous atrophy with inflammatory reactions composed of eosinophils and lymphocytes in the intestines, respectively. The prevalence observed in the present studyindicates the necessity of using an anthelmintic drug for increasing the health and productivity of camels.