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Gastrointestinal Helminths in Horses in Serbia and Various Factors Affecting the Prevalence

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Abstract

Purpose

Data on gastrointestinal infections in horses in Southeastern Europe are limited; thus, this study aimed to add to the existing knowledge on this topic by reporting on the prevalence of intestinal parasites of horses in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Methods

In the period from April 2017 to December 2018, parasitological examination of 548 samples from horses of different breed, age and sex from four regions and 18 districts of the country was performed. Coprological diagnostic was done by using qualitative methods without concentration and qualitative methods with concentration of parasitic elements. Quantification of the obtained results was performed using semi-qualitative faecal egg count.

Results

Four helminthoses were detected in the examined samples: P. equorum (8.57%), O. equi (3.65%), strongylid eggs (71.17%) and Anoplocephala spp. (0.91%). The total prevalence of helminthoses was 77.19%. Monoinfections were significantly more present 70.07% compared to coinfections (7.12%). The highest prevalence of helminthoses was detected in free-ranging horses (93.10%—27/29), in autumn 86.67% (117/135) and winter 79.71% (165/207), in Šumadija and West Serbia region (100%), and in the youngest category (100%). Significant difference (p < 0.001) was detected in the prevalence of monoinfections by strongylids and O. equi and also coinfections by strongylid/P. equorum between horses of different age categories.

Conclusion

Obtained results are of great contribution to clinical parasitology and pathology, especially from the aspect of animal health, welfare and preservation of horse population.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Contract number 451–03-68/2022–14/200143).

Funding

Funding was provided by Ministarstvo Prosvete, Nauke i Tehnološkog Razvoja, 451–03-68/2022–14/200143, Tamara Ilić.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Tamara Ilić, Danica Bogunović & Zoran Kulišić

  2. Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Oslobodjenja 18, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Katarina Nenadović & Sanda Dimitrijević

  3. Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Food and Agriculture, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), P.O. Box 1555, Al Ain, UAE

    Bojan Gajić

  4. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Gorana Popović

  5. Department of Surgery, Orthopedy and Ophthalmology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Petar Milosavljević

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  1. Tamara Ilić
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  2. Danica Bogunović
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  3. Katarina Nenadović
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Contributions

TI, PM, and SD conceived and designed the study. TI wrote the manuscript. TI, DB, BG, GP, ZK, and PM participated in collecting and analysing the samples. DB, SD, ZK, PM, BG, and KN critically revised the manuscript and made substantial contribution to interpretation of the data. KN performed the statistical analysis. All the authors performed a critical revision of the manuscript and gave final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katarina Nenadović.

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Ilić, T., Bogunović, D., Nenadović, K. et al. Gastrointestinal Helminths in Horses in Serbia and Various Factors Affecting the Prevalence. Acta Parasit. 68, 56–69 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-022-00636-z

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