270
SYSTEMATIC
SURVEY
OF
HELMINTH
[Vol. XXVI, Part IV,
CONCLUSION
Foregoing data reveal some very important results. It would be observed
that some parasites are very common and show heavy degree of infection while
others are rare and occasional. Of these, amphistomes are abundantly found in
all the four ruminants, buffaloes, cattle, sheep and goats. Gastrothylax crumenifer
and Cotylophoron cotylophorum are very common and show maximum degree of
infection and heavy load per animal, the highest degree of infection being during
the rainy season. Other amphistomes when present are not so abundant and are
generally seasonal.
Olveria indica [Thapar and Sinha 1945] is very common in cattle and buffaloes,
while Olveria bosi [Tandon 1951] and Paramphistomum gotoi are very common in
buffaloes, at any rate in Lucknow where the incidence and intensity of infection for
these parasites have been studied. Fukui [1926] and Dawes [1936] have both re-
ported the occurrence of P. gotoi as a rare parasite in the Far East and Malaya
respectively. Our observations, however, at Lucknow indicate that it is fairly
common in buffaloes, showing heaviest infection during the months of November
to April when most of the specimens are immature. From May onwards mature
specimens are encountered in this host.
It may be observed that certain other amphistomes have been reported for the
first time from the animals under review, especially from India. Particular mention
is made of the occurrence of Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus and Pseudodiscus collinsi,
the two common parasites of horses, reported to occur also in cattle, and thus the
immunity against the parasites of horses in man and other domestic animals, as
was believed, [Cameron 1926] is not eternal, at any rate for these two parasites.
Fasciola hepatica is a parasite not commonly found in this country. In the
area under review, only a single specimen was recovered during the entire period of
the working of the scheme and is thus of a very rare occurrence in this country.
The most commonly found species in India is Fasciola gigantica, which has recently
been renamed by Varma [1953] as Fasciola indica. This form is more abundantly
found in buffaloes and cattle than in sheep and goats in which animals it is found
with moderate degree of intensity in some places. The cirrus is always armed with
several rows of spines, a character which has escaped the attention of all previous
workers.
Amongst the Cestodes, Moniezia expansa is very common and M. benedeni is
occasional. Avitellina and Stilesia are also found with moderate degree of intensity.
Specimens of Stephanofilaria assamensis have been recovered, not only from the
hump sore and the yoke, but also from the tail and the feet of cattle in certain parts
of Assam, Bengal and Orissa, causing lesions identical to those occurring in the
hump. It may be pointed out that this parasite is not found in the hilly tracts of
Assam and Bengal and is absent from the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Trichuris ovis and Bunostomum trigonocephalum are very common in sheep and
goats, but cattle and buffaloes also show some infection with these parasites.
Haemonchus contortus is very abundant, but Gaigeria pachyscelis is of rare occurrence
in these animals. The latter parasite is not generally found in cattle and buffaloes.
Oesophagostome species are commonly found in sheep and other ruminants and are
reported in Tables I-IV. Gongylonema pulchrum is not so common.