Prevalence and associated risk factor of bovine calves coccidiosis in nekemt city, oromia, western ethiopia

Abstract

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by a small, single celled parasite, called a protozoa, that lives inside the cells of an infected animal’s intestinal tract and is one of the most common and important disease of calves in the world. A Cross-sectional study was conducted in and around nekemt town from January 2022 up to September 2022 to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of infection in calves. Faecal samples were collected from a total of 384 calves less than 24 month of age and examined for the oocysts of coccidian. Detailed information of the age, sex, breed, management system and hygienic status were considered as risk factors. Centrifugal faecal floatation technique using sugar solution was used to detect coccidian oocyst. From the total calves included, 176 calves were demonstrated for the presence of coccidian infection. The most of diarrheic calves show a positive result for Eimeria infection .Coccidian oocyst was detected in calves from 1 to 2 year of age but greater prevalence was observed in age categories less than 6 month of age. Statistically significant association (p<0.05) between prevalence of coccidiosis and age, breeds and husbandry system was observed in the study. There was a statistically significant association (P<0.05) between prevalence of coccidiosis and the hygienic status of the calf. Accordingly, calves with poor hygienic condition showed significantly higher prevalence than calves which have relatively better hygienic condition However, there was no statistically significant association (p>0.05) with sex. In conclusion, the study revealed that calf coccidiosis was prevalent in and around nekemte town and consequently affects the productivity of the sector. Hence, appropriate disease prevention and control measures are required to be undertaken to reduce its effect.