STUDY ON OCCURRENCE OF ASCARIASIS (Toxocara vitulorum) IN CALVES OF DIFFERENT DAIRY FARMS AT CHITTAGONG METROPOLITAN AREA

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the occurrence of Ascariasis (Toxocara vitulorum) in calves of various dairy farms situated in Chittagong metropolitan area. For this study, coproscopical investigation of 105 fecal samples collected from randomly selected calves of ten randomly selected dairy farms was done during the study period of 10th August to 30th September, 2008. 21 samples were positive out of 105 fecal samples. The overall occurrence of Ascariasis in calves was 20% in the dairy farms of Chittagong metropolitan area. Highest occurrence was found in the Sun cooperative dairy farm (71.43%), lowest in Sufia dairy farm (9.09%) and no infection was found in three farms (namely Arefin dairy farm, Arju dairy farm and Kader dairy farm). The occurrence of Ascariasis in calves was highest (35.71%) at calves of 0-3 month of age and lowest (4.55%) at 6-9 month of age. The occurrence of Ascariasis was 21.82% in male and 18.00% in female calves. The frequency of Ascariasis was found higher (43.59%) in the dairy farms where the management was unhygienic and lower (6.06%) in the dairy farms where the management was hygienic