Authors
College of Agriculture, University of AL-Qadisiyah
Abstract
This study has been carried out to determined the prevalence rate of cryptosporidiosis in broiler flocks. 150 fecal samples from 30 broiler flocks (5 samples for each flock) in different areas of AL-Qadisiyah province were used. They were collected starting of January till November 2016 with two age groups of chickens, (10-15 and 30-35) days old. Samples were examined with Modified Ziel -Neelsen stain to detect the positive samples by microscopic examination. After that, a nested-PCR technique was performed on 60 samples. Results of microscopic examination showed that total infection rate of Cryptosporidium was 29.33% . The highest rates of infection were recorded in 10-15 days group and during spring season, infection rates reached were 35.71% and 34.28% respectively. The lowest rates were observed in 30-35 days group and during summer season were 23.75% and 20% respectively. No significant differences within percentage in both two age group or among percentage in seasons at level (P < 0.05) were recorded. According to Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction test, the results showed that overall percentage of infection is 20%. The highest rate of observed infection is 23.33% in 10-15 days aged group, while the lowest rate of infection is (16.67 %) in the other age. No significant differences was observed between percentage in ages. On the other hand, result of comparing nested-PCR test with microscopic examination shows that there are no significant differences between the percentage of both tests.
In conclusion, cryptosporidiosis is widespread in broiler flocks in AL-Qadisiyah province, but there is no significant impact found concerning the relationship between infection rates and age of chickens or seasons of the year..
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