Volume: 53 Issue: 1
Year: 2022, Page: 39-43, Doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2022.53.1.39-43
Received: April 16, 2021 Accepted: June 26, 2021 Published: March 31, 2022
Pigeon rearing is comparatively easy and profitable when compared to rearing of other exotic birds such as canaries and parrots. As the bird population is on the rise, there is a steady upsurge in the occurrence of diseases too. Parasitic infestation among pigeons can be mild to fatal and thus a major cause of concern. A study was conducted to find out the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites among pigeons in Kerala. Out of 91 pigeons tested, 79 were found positive for ova of gastrointestinal parasites with a prevalence of 86.8 per cent.Ascaridia spp.(59.3 per cent) and Capillaria spp.(19.7 per cent) were the most common nematodes observed.Oocysts of Eimeria spp. was observed in 39.5 per cent of pigeons screened. Mixed infections were also noticed in 35.1 per cent of birds. This study depicts a very high occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites among pigeons of Kerala which in turn requires intervening measures to reduce the incidence.
Keywords: Gastrointestinal parasites, pigeons, Kerala
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© 2022 Juby et al. This 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 the original author and source are credited.
Juby, T., Tresamol, P. V, Vijayakumar, K., Vinodkumar, K. and Ajithkumar, S. 2022. Occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites among pigeons in Kerala. J. Vet. Anim. Sci. 53(1): 39-43.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2022.53.1.39-43