INTERNAL PARASITES IN CATTLE

Have you ever slaughtered a cow, and the digestive system and liver does not look so good.  Full of 'thread like' material (worms).  I have seen that plenty of times.  Well, my guess is internal parasites.  Most cattle have them. Obviously, for a farmer, this can have tremendous impacts on the growth and production of the herd, and thus on the dollar.  

Internal parasites are mainly worms living in the intestine of an animal.  They draw blood from the animal and compete withe the animal for nutrients in the intestine.  The animals that are skinny and do not seem to gain weight, especially while the rest of the herd is fat, may have internal parasites. The internal parasites can be controlled by proper management strategies, which includes deworming schedule, which should be applied to all animals in the herd. Contact your nearest VET office or Agra for more on medications to use on deworming for parasites.

A good test for internal parasites is using fresh cow dung.  Take the dung and place it in a bucket of water.  Smash matter with your hands.  Wait a few seconds.  If positive, worms should float to the top of the water. 

The main symptom of internal parasites is loss of body condition. Other symptoms are diarrhea, anemia, dehydration or even death. 

The various internal parasites include roundworms, tapeworms and flukes.

Roundworms

The adult worms live inside the intestine and lay eggs.  The eggs come out with faeces and hatch in moist worm conditions. These worms hatch from the laid eggs and end up in the pastures.  The cattle feed on the pastures, including worms. The worms then end up in the intestines were they grow into mature adult worms.  They process repeats itself. 

Figure showing life cycle of parasites in ruminants including cattle.

 Flukes

The flukes usually occur in the liver and digestive system of an infected animal. They lay their eggs which eventually pass to the rangeland via faeces.  The eggs than hatch in warm moist conditions. These immature flukes are invested by snails. Yes, Snails!  In the snails, they develop further.  The snails are living. They also have to release some faeces out of their systems. By doing so, they futher contaminate the pastures. The cattle take up immature flukes while grazing.  The flukes grow and mature into adult flukes in their bodies.  The cycle repeats itself.

Figure 2 depicting life cycle of fluke worms.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are the lease serious type of internal parasite.  The host is again from forage. 

Video stressing the relationship between internal parasites and production.





Video on strategic deworming strategies.