Risk factors of haemoparasites and some haematological parameters of slaughtered trade cattle in Maiduguri, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of haemoparasites and some haematological parameters of slaughtered trade cattle in Maiduguri abattoir. A total of 120 blood samples were randomly collected from cattle between January and July, 2014. The samples were screened for haemoparasites by examining Giemsa stained thin blood films. Microhaematocrit centrifugation technique was used for determination of packed cell volume (PCV) while total red blood cell (RBC) counts and total white blood cell (WBC) counts were determined by cyanmethaemoglobin and hemocytometer methods. An overall prevalence of 10.8% (CI=0.064, 0.017) was recorded for Anaplasma (5.8%), Babesia (4.2%) and Trypanosoma species (0.8%). Young cattle had significantly (p<0.05) higher prevalence of 9.2% (CI= 0.052, 0.157) compared to adults with 1.7% (CI= 0.005, 0.059). Among different sexes, females had a significantly (p<0.05) higher prevalence of 7.5% (CI: 0.040-0.136) than males with 3.3% (CI= 0.130, 0.083). Rahaji breed had a significantly higher (p<0.05) prevalence of 7.5% (CI= 0.040, 0.136) compared to Ambala with 1.7% (CI= 0.005, 0.059), Kuri and Adamawa gudali each with a prevalence of 0.8% (CI= 0.002, 0.046). Cattle with moderate body condition scores had significantly (p<0.05) higher prevalence of 6.7% (CI= 0.034, 0.126) compared with those that have good body condition scores with 4.2% (CI= 0.018, 0.094) while thin and fat cattle were not infected with haemoparasites. Even though all the haematological parameters were within range of normal values, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in mean packed cell volume (PCV) and total white blood cell (WBC) counts between infected and un-infected slaughtered cattle. It was concluded from this study that haemoparasites are endemic in cattle populations in Maiduguri and the prevalence of haemoparasites may be associated with changes in PCV and WBC count.