DISTRIBUTION OF SOME EQUINE STRONGYLATA IN GORNY ALTAI PROVINCES

The research purpose was to study the distribution of intestinal nematodes of the suborder Strongylata of horses in the physiсogeographical provinces of Gorny Altai. Faecal samples from animals spontaneously infected with helminths were examined using the Berman-Orlov larvoscopic method followed by calculation of the prevalence (P, %) and the infection intensity (II, larvae/g). Infective Strongylata larvae were identified taking into account morphometric characteristics. The study results of faecal samples from 139 animals from Central, Western, Northern and South-Eastern Altai found that intestinal strongylates were widespread and the helminth complex was formed by nematodes of the subfamilies Cyathostominae, and Strongylinae, as well as nematodes of the family Trichostrongylidae. In all provinces, the community core was cyathostomes; the infection in animals was maximum 100%, and the parasite complex index (PI) varied slightly 36.9–57.0. The subdominants were S. equinus, S. edentatus, and S. vulgaris. For the first time in Gorny Altai, Oesophagodontus robustus, Gyalocephalus capitatus and Trichostrongylus axei were recorded. The cyathostome and hyalocephalus infection rates in horses were higher in Central Altai than other provinces, and the Trichostrongylus infection in solid hoofed animals was 3–7 times higher in South-Eastern Altai than the same parameter of horses in Central, Northern and Western Altai. Significant intra-area differences were revealed in the nematode infection of horses.