Investigation of reproductive traits and hematology of parasite infested dairy cows in Bangladesh

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the parasitic infestation along with its impact on hematological indices and reproductive traits of crossbred and indigenous dairy cows at some selected areas of Dhaka division of Bangladesh. The study was conducted on 54 dairy cows (50% local and 50% crossbred) in three upazilas (Savar, Mirzapur and Manikgonj sadar) of Dhaka division from July 2022 to June 2023. Parasitic infestations especially Fasciola spp. represents a major health problem of dairy cattle impacting their health and reproduction. Individual fecal and blood were analyzed by a quantitative copromicroscopic and autohemoanalyzer to detect the number of parasitic eggs per gram of feces (EPG/OPG) and estimated blood profiles respectively. Results showed that the crossbred dairy cows (55.56%) were more susceptible to parasitic infestation than indigenous dairy cows (33.33%). The hematological values were also adversely affected by parasitic infestation which severely affected the reproductive traits such as age at puberty, service per conception rate, age at calving, postpartum heat period, length of lactation, calving interval as well as length of gestation in both crossbred and local breed of dairy cows. Overall, the reproductive traits of both cross and local breed dairy cows were severely affected by parasitic infestation based on the blood profile parameters.