Prevalence and distribution of pig helminths in the Dongting Lake Region (Hunan Province) of the People's Republic of China

The prevalence of helminths in pigs was investigated in five rural communit ies situated. on the embankment of Dongting Lake in Zhiyang County, Hunan P rovince, People's Republic of China, in an area known to be endemic fur Sch istoma japonicum. The helminth prevalences identified on the basis of faeca l egg count analysis were: Oesophagostomum spp. (86.7%), Ascaris suum (36.7 %), Metastrongylus spp. (25.8%), Strongyloides spp. (25.8%), Trichuris suis (15.8%), Globocephalus spp. (6.7%), Gnathostoma spp. (4.2%), Schistosoma j aponicum (5.0%) and Fasciola spp. (1.3%). Post mortem examinations of a sma ll number of rigs depositing eggs of different helminth species revealed th e presence of Oesophagostomum denatum, O. quadrispinulatum, A. suum, Metast rongylus apri, M. pudendotectus, T. suis, G. hispidum and Ascarops dentata. Prevalences of all helminths, with the exception of Oesophagostomum spp., were higher in young pigs (< 8 months old) compared with adult pigs. Preval ences of trematodes were very low, especially for S. japonicum which had de creased dramatically compared with previous reports from this area of P.R. China, whereas prevalences of nematodes were generally in agreement with th ose reported from other Yangtze River Provinces. Results from helminth prev alence studies in rigs, conducted in other provinces of PR. China between 1 987 and 1997, are presented and discussed. It was concluded that a governme nt helminth control programme, implemented in 1995 to control S. japonicum infection in pigs in Hunan Province, may have resulted in a greatly reduced prevalence of S. japonicum in pigs in this region.