gastrointestinal nematodes in goats naturally infected on the island of São Luís, Maranhão State, Brazil

Resumo

The objective of this study was to evaluate the gastrointestinal parasitism of goats based on the variables eggs and oocysts per gram of feces, age, sex, period of the year, parasite load of more frequent gastrointestinal parasites in goats of three municipalities of the island of São Luís in the state of Maranhão, Brazil. Sampling was carried out in 2008, with 314 goats reared in a semi-intensive regime, coproparasitological examinations and identification of infective larvae. The statistical test performed was Chi-square and Fisher's, for OPG/OoPG, age, sex, CP and period of the year. The frequency of parasitism in goats in the dry and rainy season was 46.17% (n = 149) and 53.82% (n = 169), respectively. Adult goats presented higher OPG in the dry period of the year in relation to the young, and adult females had a higher frequency of parasitism independent of the dry and rainy season. Regarding the parasitic load (CP) in OPG they were mild to moderate, no goats were observed with heavy CP. The infecting larvae identified belonged to the genus Haemonchus, Trichostrongylus, Cooperia and Oesophagostomum, with Haemonchus and Cooperia being more prevalent in all municipalities studied. In the municipalities studied, the goats most exposed to infection are female adults during the dry season.