Prevalence of Balantidium coli in cattle and cattle breeders in some regions of Baghdad in Iraq
A study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Balantidium coli infection in cattle and their breeders and related risk factors including the gender, age and region. A total of 200 cattle faecal samples were collected from different ages, sexes and regions of Baghdad (Hor rageb, Abu Ghraib, AL Jaderiya, AL Makaseb, AL Dowanem and AL Hamdaniaa) and 88 breeder faecal samples from AL Makaseb, AL Dowanem and AL Hamdaniaa during the period from November 2014 to May 2015. The results showed that the prevalence of Balantidium coli were 29.50% and 9.09% in cattle and their breeders, respectively. The association between infection and all studied factors was not significant except between infection and regions in cattle which were significant (P<0.01) Based on the results of this research, it can be concluded that cattle are highly susceptible to balantidiasis irrespective of sex and age. Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2016. 45 (2) 30 34