BACKGROUND The wellbeing and livelihood of farmers in impoverished regions of the world is intrinsically linked to the health and welfare of their livestock; hence improved animal health is a pragmatic component of poverty alleviation. Prerequisite knowledge and understanding of the animal health challenges facing cattle keepers in Malawi is constrained by the lack of veterinary infrastructure, which inevitably accompanies under-resourced rural development in a poor country. METHODS We collaborated with public and private paraveterinary services to locate 62 village Zebu calves and 60 dairy co-operative calves dispersed over a wide geographical area. All calves were visited twice about 2 to 3 weeks apart, when they were clinically examined and faecal samples were collected. The calves were treated with 7.5 mg/kg of a locally-available albendazole drench on the first visit, and pre- and post- treatment trichostrongyle and Toxocara faecal egg counts were performed using a modified McMaster method. RESULTS Our clinical findings point towards a generally poor level of animal health, implying a role of ticks and tick-transmitted diseases in village calves and need for improvement in neonatal calf husbandry in the dairy co-operative holdings. High faecal trichostrongyle egg counts were not intuitive, based on our interpretation of the animal management information that was provided. This shows the need for better understanding of nematode parasite epidemiology within the context of local husbandry and environmental conditions. The albendazole anthelmintic was effective against Toxocara, while efficacy against trichostrongyle nematodes was poor in both village and dairy co-operative calves, demonstrating the need for further research to inform sustainable drug use. CONCLUSIONS Here we describe the potential value of faecal nematode egg counting as a platform for communicating with and gaining access to cattle keepers and their animals, respectively, in southern Malawi, with the aim of providing informative background knowledge and understanding that may aid in the establishment of effective veterinary services in an under-resourced community.

中文翻译：

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在低收入国家，粪便卵线虫的概念证明是兽医参与计划内牲畜健康管理的一种实用手段。

背景技术世界贫困地区的农民的福祉和生计与牲畜的健康和福祉有着内在的联系。因此，改善动物健康是减轻贫困的务实组成部分。缺乏兽医基础设施限制了对马拉维养牛者所面临的动物健康挑战的必要知识和了解，这不可避免地伴随着贫穷国家资源贫乏的农村发展。方法我们与公共和私人兽医服务机构合作，找到了分布在广阔地理区域的62头乡村小牛犊和60头乳品合作社犊牛。在临床检查和收集粪便样本后，对所有小牛进行两次探访，间隔约2至3周。小牛用7。初次就诊时使用5 mg / kg的局部阿苯达唑浸湿法，并使用改良的McMaster方法对治疗前后的毛滴虫腈和Toxocara粪便卵数进行了计数。结果我们的临床研究结果表明动物的健康水平普遍较差，这意味着of和and传播疾病在乡村小牛中的作用，以及需要改善乳品合作社饲养中的新生小牛饲养。根据我们对提供的动物管理信息的解释，粪便中的trichostrongyle卵子计数高并不直观。这表明需要在当地饲养和环境条件下更好地了解线虫寄生虫流行病学。阿苯达唑驱虫药对弓形虫有效，尽管在乡村和奶牛合作社犊牛中，抗毛线虫线虫的功效均较差，这表明有必要进行进一步研究以告知可持续药物使用情况。结论在这里，我们描述了粪便线虫卵计数作为在马拉维南部与牛饲养者及其动物进行交流和获取机会的平台的潜在价值，目的是提供信息性的背景知识和了解，以帮助建立资源贫乏社区的有效兽医服务。