Medycyna Wet. 62 (11), 1295-1297, 2006
Romaniuk K., Jaworski Z.
Course of mallophagans invasion in Black-and-White Lowland and Polish Red cows during the alcove breeding period
Studies were carried out in 2003/04 and 2004/05 on 28-53 cows of Black-and-White (bwl) as well as 50-61 of Polish Red (pr) breed. Hair from the base of tail and neck was combed once a month from October to April. Samples were weighed in the laboratory, then the material was divided into portions and, using a magnifying glass, mallophagans and its eggs were counted. The intensity of the invasion was determined based on the weight of collected hair and number of parasites and its eggs. It was determined that the extent of Bovicola bovis invasion was higher in bwl cows. The lowest number of animals in both groups was infected with mallophagans in October and April. The peak of the invasion occurred in January. In the hair of pr cows there was a small amount of adult mallophagans from October to December but its number increased in January to 0.75 and in March to 1 specimen in 200 mg of hair. Similarly, during the same time period the number of adult B. bovis was insignificant (0.1-0.25) in bwl cows but from December it increased to 2.0, 2.95 and 3.05 parasites in 200 mg of hair in January, February and March, respectively. The peak of blowing eggs by B. bovis females in both breeds of cows appeared in January and March and the number of immature mallophagans was similar to that of the adults. It was also ascertained that larvae did not hatch out from all eggs blown by females. In bwl cows, in October, January and March 0.3 of larva hatched from 1 egg and in December, February and April respectively 0.5, 0.6 and 0.4, whereas in pr cows considerably fewer larva hatched (0.2-0.66). The results obtained indicate the various susceptibility of analyzed cow breeds to B. bovis invasion. It can be supposed that the longer hair of bwl cows and susceptibility to dandruff formation create more favorable conditions to B. bovis existence and development.
Keywords: cows, mallophagosis, Bovicola bovis