The objective of this work was to verify the occurence and the seasonal distribution of gastrointestinal helminths of goats during the dry and rainy seasons, for establishing the suitable steps to their control. The trail was carried out at EMBRAPA/UEPAE de Teresina campus, at Teresina There were used male goats from six to eight months old, maintained in a two hectare of Brachiaria humidicola pasture. Five animals stayed in the paddock for the whole period (control) and received no anthelminthic treatment. Monthly, three tracer goats, after receiving three anthelminthic treatments, entered the paddock, there staying exposed to the helminthic infection for 30 days. After that they were put in a cage and replaced by other three tracer goats. After 14 days in the cage they were killed and necropsied for helminths collection, counting and identification. The same procedure was also done to the control goats at the end of the experiment. From January/88 to February/90 there were necropsied 70 tracer goats and five control goats. There were found the following helminths: Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus colubriformis, Strongyloides papillosus, Moniezia expansa, Cooperia punctata. C. curticei, Oesophagostomum columbianum, Trichuris spp (T. ovis, Trichuris sp., T. skrjabini), Skrjabinema ovis, Cysticercus tenuicollis and Paramphistomum spp. There were also identified: Cysticercus tenuicollis and Paramphistomum spp. The necropsy of the tracer goats showed that the helminths transmission occured during the whole year, being highest during the wet season as well as at the beggining of the dry season. The highest intensity helminths in the tracer goats was H. contortus but, in the control goats, was T. colubriformis.
gastrointestinal parasites; epidemiology; goats
