Vet World Vol.11 March-2018 Article-21
Research Article
Veterinary World, 11(3): 386-396
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2018.386-396
Inventory of lice of mammals and farmyard chicken in North-eastern Algeria
2. Institute of Veterinary and Agronomic Sciences, Mohamed Cherif Messaadia University, Souk-Ahras, Algeria.
3. Institute of Veterinary Sciences, Saad Dahlab University, Blida, Algeria.
Background and Aim: Lice are permanent ectoparasites, extremely specific to their hosts. Their great importance in veterinary medicine remain significant, they can cause their direct pathogenic actions like irritability, dermatitis, anemia, decreased weight gain, and milk production. The purpose of this work was to made the first time an inventory of mammalian lice in North-eastern Algeria.
Materials and Methods: Our survey of lice infestation was conducted on several animal species from five provinces of North-eastern Algeria. A total of 57 cattle, 83 sheep, 77 goats, 111 wild boars, and 63 farmyard chickens were examined. The collection of lice was carried out much more in mammals and chickens during the winter period. Lice were collected either manually or using brushing and kept in flasks containing 70% ethanol. The identification of lice was achieved in the laboratory using a binocular loupe.
Results: Concerning cattle, 63% and 27% of those examined subjects from Souk-Ahras and Guelma study areas, respectively, were carriers of lice. Damalinia bovis was the louse most frequently found on cattle in these two regions. Three other species were identified in Souk-Ahras: Haematopinus eurysternus (25%), Linognathus vituli (10%), and Solenopotes capillatus (5%). Regarding sheep, 39% and 24% of examined animals in Souk-Ahras and Guelma, were carrying lice. Damalinia ovis was the most frequently encountered lice on sheep in both regions. Linognathus ovillus also was identified in Souk-Ahras, representing 0.3% of the collected lice. Concerning goats, 53% and 30% of examined animals in Souk-Ahras and Guelma, were parasitized of lice. Two species of lice were found: Damalinia caprae and Linognathus africanus. For farmyard chickens, 69% and 100% of the farmyard chicken in Souk-Ahras and Mila were parasitized by lice, respectively. Menopon gallinae was the most frequently encountered louse in farmyard chicken in both regions. Eight other species were identified in Mila and four other species only in Souk-Ahras. Finally, 25% and 28% of the wild boars in Annaba and El Tarf were parasitized by lice, respectively. Haematopinus suis was the only species found on wild boars in both regions.
Conclusion: These results are to be taken into account for lice control schemes and louse-borne diseases. Keywords: boars, farmyard chickens, lice, North-eastern Algeria, ruminants.
Keywords: boars, farmyard chickens, lice, North-eastern Algeria, ruminants.
How to cite this article: Meguini MN, Righi S, Zeroual F, Saidani K, Benakhla A (2018) Inventory of lice of mammals and farmyard chicken in North-eastern Algeria, Veterinary World, 11(3): 386-396.
Received: 05-12-2017 Accepted: 23-02-2018 Published online: 30-03-2018
Corresponding author: Mohamed Nadir Meguini E-mail: nadirmeguini@gmail.com
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2018.386-396
Copyright: Meguini, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.