Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Helminths of Horses (Equus Caballus) in the Southern Guinea Savannah Zone of Northern Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence and significance of Gastrointestinal (GI) helminth parasites of horses in the southern guinea savannah zone of northern Nigeria. Faecal samples were collected from 159 randomly selected horses of varied sexes for the study. One hundred and twenty-one (121) (76.1%) horses were infected with GI helminth parasites. The helminth parasites detected include Strongylus spp (55.3%), Oxyuris spp (30.2%) and Strongyloides spp (10.7%). Twenty-eight (28) (17.6%) horses showed infection with more than one of the observed parasite species. Female animals were found to be more infected (80.8%) than their male counterparts (58.8%). The findings show that parasitism is a problem in the stables examined and calls for proper stable hygiene, improved management practices and regular and strategic parasite monitoring and deworming programmes in order to achieve improved health and performance.