Original scientific paper

New sublinguiform vulvar flap of Haemonchus species in naturally infected domestic ruminants in Béja Abattoir, North Tunisia.

Hafidh Akkari ; Department of Applied Biotechnology, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Béja, Béja, Tunisia
Mohamed Gharbi ; Laboratoire de Parasitologie, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de la Manouba, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
Sofia Awadi ; Laboratoire de Parasitologie, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de la Manouba, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
Aziz Darghouth Mohamed ; Laboratoire de Parasitologie, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de la Manouba, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
Bersissa Kumsa ; Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Addis Ababa University, Bishoftu, Ethiopia; Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, Marseille, France

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the type of vulvar morphology in female Haemonchus worms collected from the abomasa of sheep, goats and cattle slaughtered for human consumption in Béja Abattoir in Tunisia with a Mediterranean type of climate. For the purpose, a total of 2450 female Haemonchus worms from abomasa of 363 sheep, 258 goats and 152 cattle were thoroughly examined for the types of their vulvar flap. Of the total 143 female Haemonchus worms from cattle 21.5% linguiform, 41.8% knobbed and 3.4% smooth vulvar flap types were recorded. Out of the total 645 female Haemonchus worms from abomasa of sheep, 42.5% linguiform, 36.3% knobbed and 21.2% smooth vulvar morph types were identified. In goats a total of 1662 female worms were differentiated into 27.7% linguiform, 65.8% knobbed and 6.4% smooth vulvar morph types. Further subclassification of 43 linguiform vulvar flap female Haemonchus worms from cattle revealed an overall proportion of 11.5% LA type, 26.3% LB type, 17.1% LC type, 0.8% LD type and 11.0% LI linguiform subtypes. Likewise, from sheep, of the total of 327 linguiform vulvar flap female worms, 31.6% LA type, 18% LB type, 26.3% LC type, 3.9% LD type and 3.5% LI linguiform subtypes were differentiated. From goats, of the total of 461 linguiform vulvar flap female worms, 48% LA type, 13.8% LB type, 21.6% LC type, 4.4% LD type and 12.3% LI linguiform subtypes were detected. The LB sublinguiform type had the highest overall proportion in cattle, whereas the LA sub linguiform type was the most predominant in both sheep and goats. An interesting finding of the current study is the documentation of a new type of sublinguiform vulvar flap type in female Haemonchus worms for the first time, from the Mediterranean type of climate in Tunisia. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of new vulvar morphology in female Haemonchus worms, designated as LD sublinguiform vulvar flap with three cuticular inflations. Further detailed studies are urgently needed on the prevalence, morphological, molecular and genetic characterization of Haemonchus spp. with different vulvar flap types in different agro-ecologies, animal species and breeds, and management systems in Tunisia and other countries.

Keywords

female Haemonchus; knobbed; smooth; linguiform; new sublinguiform; vulvar flap

Hrčak ID:

101898

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/101898

Publication date:

17.5.2013.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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