| dc.description.abstract | <br /> <strong><span style="color: #221e1f; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-size: small;">BACKGROUND: </span></span></strong><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards are the most populous species of lizard in developing countries of African including Nigeria. These lizards are insectivores; they feed on insects and other arthropods, which may predispose them to different gastrointestinal parasitic infections, some of which are of zoonotic importance. </span></span></span><br /> OBJECTIVES:<br /> <span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">This study aimed to investigate the gastrointestinal parasites in </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards trapped in and around commercial poultry houses in Gombe State, Nigeria. </span></span></span><br /> METHODS:<br /> <span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The study was carried out between the months of February and December, 2017. Fresh fecal samples were collected from 200 humanly euthanized </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards from six Local Government Areas of Gombe State. Samples were examined microscopically for the presence of gastrointestinal parasites eggs or adult worms. </span></span></span><br /> RESULTS:<br /> <span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Gastrointestinal parasites were detected in 154 (77.0%) </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards examined, comprising of 58% gastrointestinal helminthes ova and 19% coccidian oocytes. Six species of helminthes were encountered viz: </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Strongyluris </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (25.5%), </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Trichuris </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (13.5%), </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Oxyuris </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (8.0%), </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Ascaris </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (5.5%), </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Heterakis </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (4.0%) and </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Capillaria </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (1.5%) all belonging to the class </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Nematoda</span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">. Two coccidian species comprised of </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Eimeria </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">(1.5%) and </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Isospora </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">species (1.5%) were also encountered. The prevalence of gastrointestinal helminthes was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher in male (68.5%) compared to the female (45.7%) infected lizards. Coccidiosis was also higher (p> 0.05) in the male (19.4%) compared to the female (18.5%) infected lizards. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites was found to be significantly (p < 0.0001) higher in the rainy season compared to the dry season of the study period. </span></span></span><br /> CONCLUSIONS:<br /> <span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">This study discovered helminthosis and coccidiosis in </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards roaming in and around poultry pens in Gombe State. The occurrence of six helminthes and two coccidian species were recovered from infected </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards, and prevalence rates of both parasites were significantly higher during the rainy season. Similar genus of gastrointestinal parasites detected in this study have been previously documented in man and domesticated birds. This suggests the association of </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards in gastrointestinal parasites transmissions between susceptible hosts. Therefore, it is recommended that further studies involving molecular characterization and comparative studies of </span></span></span><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">these gastrointestinal parasites in </span></span></span><em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Agama agama </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #221e1f; font-family: Times New Roman,Times New Roman; font-size: small;">lizards and domesticated birds should be carried out. It is also recommended that strict biosecurity should be maintained in and around commercial poultry houses to curb disease transmission by lizards or wild reptiles to birds. </span></span></span> | en_US |
