Abstract
Fifty gastrointestinal tracts of local breed chickens slaughtered at Sharada market slaughter slabs Kano State were collected and examined for helminth parasites, formol ether concentration technique was used to concentrate the gut and analysis carried out. A total of 95 parasites belonging to five species were isolated and identified. Of these parasite, Railleitina tetragona was found to be the most prevalent (22%) among the chicken breeds, followed by R. echinobothrida (18%), R. cesticillus (12%), the least were Ascaridia galli and Hetarakis gallinarum (10%) each. Statistically, there was significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in prevalence rate of infection between number of chickens infected and number examined. Parasite preference to sex was also recorded, males harbored more parasites than females. It is recommended that slaughtered chickens should be well cooked to avoid zoonotic infections.
Key words: Gastrointestinal tracts, helminthes, local breed chickens, parasite, prevalence
