Gastrointestinal Parasitic Diseases of Buffaloes and Implications of Climate Change for these Diseases in Nepal

Buffaloes constitute the most important farm livestock species in Nepal contributing the most among the farm livestock to the household and national economy in terms of milk, meat, manure and farm power. In Nepal, buffaloes are reared from tropical plains of Terai to the temperate climate of high altitude Himalayas, which perhaps are the highest altitudes of the world for buffalo raising. Buffalo production system in Nepal is mostly under sedentary management system in small herds, mostly tethered in the farm household and fed on crop by-products, except in the high altitude regions, where larger herds are reared under seasonal migration to the high Himalayan pastures during summer months. Gastrointestinal parasitic diseases, particularly fasciolosis, paramphistomosis and ascariasis (in calves) constitute the most prevalent and important diseases under the sedentary management system, while the study in migratory buffaloes has not been conducted. The point prevalence of fasciolosis and paramphistomosis in Nepal is high (more than 50-60 percent) throughout the plains and mid hill regions of the country and even in the higher altitudes, where forage resources are bought from the lower valleys causing significant production losses in terms of milk yield, body weight and fertility. Similarly, the prevalence of ascariasis in young calves has been recorded to be more than fifty percent. Fasciolosis and paramphistomosis of buffaloes in Nepal are mainly dependent upon grazing on harvested rice fields and feeding on rice straw, thus directly and closely associated with rice cultivation, which is practiced in the plains and at lower elevations of the hills. As the rice fields provide an ideal and conducive environment for parasite transmission, with the global warming, rice cultivation might be possible even at higher elevations, thus increasing the incidences of these diseases at higher regions as well. This paper discusses these issues and highlights the strategies for the management of intestinal parasitic diseases of buffaloes.