Parasites of the stomach in donkeys of the highveld of Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Fourteen donkeys from a communal area of the Zimbabwean highveld were examined for stomach parasites during July and November of 1986 and January and April of 1987. All 14 animals were infected. Habronema muscae occurred in 12, Draschia megastoma in 11, H. majus in 9, Trichostrongylus axei in 9, Gasterophilus intestinalis in 14 and G. nasalis in 1 donkey. The lowest level of infection was in January for the helminths and in April for Gasterophilus larvae. The peak burdens of parasites were in July for Habronema spp. and in November for D. megastoma and Gasterophilus larvae. Infections with spirurid worms and Gasterophilus develop mainly from the middle of the rainy season to the beginning of the dry season (January to May/June). G. intestinalis seems to have an annual cycle.