Gastrointestinal parasites of domestic chicken slaughtered in Eke Awka Market, Anambra State

The poultry industry plays a vital role in the national economy as a revenue provider and a source of animal protein to man,but zoonotic parasitic infection can spread to human from them, if not handled with care. The study on the gastrointestinalparasites of domestic chicken slaughtered in Eke Awka market, Anambra state was carried out between November andDecember 2023. The objectives were to determine gastrointestinal parasites associated with domestic chicken and theprevalence of the gastrointestinal parasites in relation to their gender and predilection site. Fifty (50) slaughtered chickenswere examined by pouring the contents of the gastrointestinal tract into separate Petri dishes in search of the adult parasites.The sedimentation method was employed to determine the presence of the parasite egg. The overall prevalence of the parasitewas 20.00%. Five species of parasites were recovered; Ascaridia galli 5(10.00%), unidentified cestodes 2 (4.00%),Raillietina cesticillus 1 (2.00%), Raillietina tertragona 1 (2.00%) and Eimeria spp 4 (8.00%). Males (3) recorded aprevalence of 53.85% while females (7) recorded a prevalence of 8.11%. The small intestine was the most preferredmicrohabitat of the parasites. The high prevalence of gastrointestinal helminths as observed in this area has a strongrelationship with their mode of feeding and living conditions, Handling of chicken intestine should be followed by handwashto prevent passing parasite eggs to susceptible human hosts.