Prevalence and Intensity of Paramphistomum Spp. In Cattle from South-Eastern Iran

Parasitological investigations on paramphistomosis were carried out over a 12-month period in the southeast of Iran to determine the prevalence and intensity of this disease. A total of 1000 cattle, Sistani breed (n= 450) and Brahman breed (n= 550) of all sex and age groups were inspected at random for the presence of paramphis­tomidae flukes in Zabol slaughterhouse from December 2012 to Octo­ber 2013. Paramphistomes were found in 369 of 1000 necropsied cows (36.9%; 95% CI: 30.1-41.9%), with significant higher prevalence of infection in Brahman breed than in Sistani breed (51% vs 19.3%). No significant correlation between prevalence, intensity of infection, sex and age of cattle was noted. Despite the differ­ence in the seasonal variations of prevalence, and the relation between the intensity of infection and season, these were not statistically significant. The mean intensity of infection in Brahman breed was higher (652.66 ± 281.5) than Sistani breed (123.32 ± 32.2). The identification of stained trematodes to the species re­vealed 40, 20, 20, 15 and 5% Gastrothylax crumenifer, Cotylophoron cotylophorom, Paramphisto­mum cervi, Carmyerius spatiosus, Explanatum explanatum, respectively. The present results will contribute to our understanding of the epidemi­ology of paramphistomumosis in southeastern Iran.