INTRODUCTION:

Despite a tremendous increase in the commercial rearing, rural poultry still constitutes 80 per cent of our total poultry population. Though the prevalence of parasitic infections are less in commercial system due to the non availability of intermediate hosts, helminth infections are high in free range and backyard systems due to exposure to reservoir hosts and unscientific management practices (Permin et al., 1999). The present study deals with the occurrence of Oxyspirura mansoni, the eye worm of chicken.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The birds were brought to Veterinary Dispensary, Thiruvanvandoor, Alappuzha with the complaint of inability to open the eyes and protrusion of the nictitating membrane. The owner complained of irritation and inflammation with secretion of tears from the eyes of birds. The birds were reared as back yard poultry by the farmer. Examination of eyes revealed the presence of large number of live worms under the nictitating membrane. Worms recovered from the eyes were sent to the Department of Veterinary Parasitology,

Oxyspirura mansoni

IN BACKYARD POULTRY OF KERALA

1 2 2 2Deepu Philip Mathew , Priya M .N ., Deepa C.K ., Syamala K .,2 2

Ajithkumar K. G . and Reghu Ravindran

College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot

1. Ve t e r i n a r y s u rg e o n , Ve t e r i n a r y D i s p e n s a r y,

Thiruvanvandoor, Alapuzha

2. Assistant Professor Department of Veterinary Parasitology,

College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot, Lakkidi,

P. O., Wayanad.

ABSTRACT:

A few birds reared by a private owner as backyard poultry were brought to the Veterinary Dispensary,

Thiruvanvandoor, with the complaint of inability to open the eyes. Irritation and secretion of tears from the eyes

of birds were observed. White, small, thread like nematode worms recovered from the eyes, The worms were

identified as Oxyspirura mansoni based on morphology.

College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot for identification.

These parasites were then processed by dehydrating in ascending grades of alcohol followed by clearing using creosote. The species was identified based on morphology according to Soulsby (1982).

RESULT:

The worms were white, small and thread like measuring a little over half an inch in length. The male worms were smaller than the females. Microscopically, the mouth opening was large, circular and devoid of lips. The pharynx was observed to be hourglass shaped (Fig.1). The tail end of the male was curved ventrally while in females it was straight. Two unequal spicules were present on the posterior end of the males. One of the spicule was long and slender while the other was short and thick (Fig. 2). There were six pairs of genital papillae on the posterior end of the male.

The worms were identified as Oxyspirura mansoni based on Soulsby (1982). The affected birds were treated with Albendazole 2.5 percent suspension topically by instilling a drop each into the eyes two times a day for 3 days consecutively. The complete flock including the affected birds was dewormed with

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Albendazole 2.5 per cent suspension orally at the dose rate of 25 mg/kg body weight. The treatment regimen resulted in complete recovery of all the affected birds.

DISCUSSION:

Previously, Pillai and Peter (1971) and Nadkal et al., (1972) have reported the occurrence of O. mansoni in Kerala. Based on available literature, there is no report of the parasite from the state since 1972. This may be due to the lack of surveys for detection of worms from poultry.

Eventhough the prevalence of most parasitic diseases in poultry has reduced significantly due to commercial poultry production, a number of helminth species are observed in rural scavenging poultry (Pandey et al., 1992, Permin et. al., 1997 and Kabatange and Katule, 1990). Larvae of Oxyspirura mansoni develop in the body cavity of the cockroach on ingestion of embryonated eggs that are passed through faeces of affected birds. Ingestion of infected cockroaches leads to infection (Soulsby, 1982). The movement of the worms in the eye, results in irritation ophthalmitis and abundant secretion of tears leading to self inflicted injury. The nictitating membrane becomes swollen and may protrude out of the corner of the eye (Flynn, 2007).

REFERENCES:

Kabatange, M.A, and Katule, A.M 1990 Rural poultry production systems in Tanzania. In: Proceedings of an international workshop on rural poultry in Africa, African Network on Rural Poultry Development, Nigeria. pp. 171-176

Nadkal, A.M., John, K.C., Muraleedharan, K and Mohandas, A. 1972 Qualitative analysis of gastrointestinal helminths of domestic fowl in southern Kerala. Ind. J. Anim. Health 11: 5-9.

Permin A, Magwisha H, Kassuku AA, Nansen P, Bisgaard M, Frandsen F, Gibbons L (1997) A cross-sectional study of helminths in rural scavenging poultry in Tanzania in relation to season and climate. J. Helminthol. 71: 233-240.

Pillai, K.M., Peter, C.T. 1971 Studies on tapeworms commonly encountered in fowls. Ind. Vet. J. 48: 430-431.

Robert, J. Flynn and David, G. Baker 2007 Flynn's ndparasites of laboratory animals. 2 Edn.

American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine Blackwell publishing pp: 250-251

Soulsby, E.J.L. 1982 Helminthes, arthropods and protozoa of domesticated animals. 7th Edn.

Bailliere Tindall, London pp: 291WATT poultry statistical yearbook 1996 Poultry Intl 35: 8

Fig.1: Oxyspirura mansoni- anterior end-

Hour glass shaped pharynx

Fig.2: Oxyspirura mansoni- male tail end- long

left spicule and short right spicule

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