[Changes in the blood pictureof the red goat of Maradi as a function of its gastrointestinal parasitism].

Abstract

Numerous "chèvres de Maradi" are bred in Republique du Niger (cap. Niamey), 2 - 10(+6) numbered in 1973. This rustic ruminant is often very parasitized by intestinal nematodes and sporozoa. The most frequent genera are Bunostomum (55%), Trichostrongylus (40%), Strongyloides (27%), Oesophagostomum and Haemonchus (20%), sometimes Moniezia or Stilesia, coccidiosis being endemic and very pathogenic, Eimeria (70%). Polyparasitism is a "modus vivendi" between the host and these various parasites. All modification of the number or the kind of parasites (prevalence of one or two genera) involves a variation of the differential leucocyte count (anthelmintic cure for example). When the normal leucocyte count is 18 to 22 - 10(+3) per mm3, whose neutrophils: 40.73%; acidophils: 2%; basophils: 0.28%; monocytes: 11.28%; lymphocytes (small and big forms): 45.71%, a tapeworm parasitism by adults (Moniezia or Stilesia) or by peritoneal larvae (Cysticercus sp.) involves a light eosinophilia (8%), in morbid cases of coccidiosis, neutrophilia prevails (70%), and a polyparasitism with nematodes and Eimeria is characterized by monocytosis and neutrophilia, the polynuclear eosinophils being very rare. These observations show the necessity to elaborate simultaneously two cures: the first with an anthelmintic product, the second against coccidia, to avoid an uncertain Eimeria proliferation after the nematode destruction. In African breeding conditions, where polyparasitism is very frequent, such a therapeutic schedule is recommended.