Serological studies on some helminths infesting Equines in Egypt

The post-mortem examination of 288 donkeys during theperiod from December 1981 to November 1982, revealed thatthe incidence of Strongylus vulgaris was 93.06% ; Setariaeguina 82.64%; Habronema ~. 65.97% (H. muscae 65.28% and~.megastoma 0.69%) ; Dictyocaulus arnfieldi 45.14% ; Parascariseguorum 4.17% and Fasciola gigantica 2.78% of the totalexamined animals.All the internal helminths which were detected in Egy-ptian donkeys could be easily diagnosed by faecal examin-ation except Setaria equina worm, as it is found in theperitoneal cavity and its microfilariae are present in theperipheral blood.The microscopical examination of thick blood films from240 donkeys revealed that 15 cases(6.25%) had Setaria equinamicrofilariae. The highest incidence (15%) of S.eguina mic-rofilariae was in October, but it was not detected during~ummer season, although the post-mortem examination of these~nimals showed numerous number of worms. icroscopical examination of blood films of 50 donkeyswhich proved to harbour S.equina during P.M. examinationrevealed that only 14% had sheathed micro filariae • I:i1 suchcases aerological tests are important diagnostic tools for