Biodiversity and Prevalence of Chewing Lice on Local Poultry

Background and Aim: Lice are permanent ectoparasites, extremely specific to their hosts. Their great importance in veterinary medicine remain significant, they can cause their direct pathogenic actions like irritability, dermatitis, anemia, decreased weight gain, and milk production. The purpose of this work was to made the first time an inventory of mammalian lice in North-eastern Algeria. Materials and Methods: Our survey of lice infestation was conducted on several animal species from five provinces of North-eastern Algeria. A total of 57 cattle, 83 sheep, 77 goats, 111 wild boars, and 63 farmyard chickens were examined. The collection of lice was carried out much more in mammals and chickens during the winter period. Lice were collected either manually or using brushing and kept in flasks containing 70% ethanol. The identification of lice was achieved in the laboratory using a binocular loupe. Results: Concerning cattle, 63% and 27% of those examined subjects from Souk-Ahras and Guelma study areas, respectively, were carriers of lice. Damalinia bovis was the louse most frequently found on cattle in these two regions. Three other species were identified in Souk-Ahras: Haematopinus eurysternus (25%), Linognathus vituli (10%), and Solenopotes capillatus (5%). Regarding sheep, 39% and 24% of examined animals in Souk-Ahras and Guelma, were carrying lice. Damalinia ovis was the most frequently encountered lice on sheep in both regions. Linognathus ovillus also was identified in Souk-Ahras, representing 0.3% of the collected lice. Concerning goats, 53% and 30% of examined animals in Souk-Ahras and Guelma, were parasitized of lice. Two species of lice were found: Damalinia caprae and Linognathus africanus. For farmyard chickens, 69% and 100% of the farmyard chicken in Souk-Ahras and Mila were parasitized by lice, respectively. Menopon gallinae was the most frequently encountered louse in farmyard chicken in both regions. Eight other species were identified in Mila and four other species only in Souk-Ahras. Finally, 25% and 28% of the wild boars in Annaba and El Tarf were parasitized by lice, respectively. Haematopinus suis was the only species found on wild boars in both regions. Conclusion: These results are to be taken into account for lice control schemes and louse-borne diseases.

The Journal of The University of Duhok, 2020

Two hundred local chickens were examined outdoor for collecting chicken's chewing lice from October 2017 to July 2018. The study area comprised three main governorates (Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah) with three areas were selected randomly for each governorate. Lice were collected by picking hand and no toothed thumb forceps used. Samples stored into tubes containing ethanol 96%, then samples examined and identified by using a dissecting microscope. In the present study, the infection of local chicken with one or more lice was 42% (84/200), six species of lice were recorded and identified to: Menacantheus stramineus, Menopone gallinae, Goiocotes gallinae, Goniodes gigas, Goniodes dissimilis and Lipeurus caponus.

Present study was carried out at different locations oftaluka Pano Akil of Sukkur region on fortnightly interval basis during, 2013-14.Overall total poultry birds (1200) were kept under observation, from which (462) found to be infested, out of them only (38) birds randomly selected and overall mean of ten birds effected were observed (52.20),The sever infestation of poultry lice, M. gallinae with overall mean population observed was (21.00) with (40.22%) followed by G. dissimilis (14.49) with (27.75%), M. clyae (11.49) with (22.93%) and C. tschulyschma (7.18) with (13.75%), respectively. Therefore, twenty severely infested chickens were observed from neck, chest and cloacal regions on fortnight interval bases these were never been injected or used any drugs for precaution of lice repellent or kill. Only the naturally population was kept under observations. There were 4 kinds of lice species namely; Menopon gallinae, Goniodes disimilis, Machaeriaemus clyae and Columbicola tschyulyschmawere reported first time from this Sukkur region. The results indicate that peak population of lice were observed at taluka Pano Akil in the month of June (35.78) / bird and least population in January (10.26) with the overall mean population (44.75) / bird, respectively. It was further observed that in the taluka Pano Akil, the overall infection present population of M. gallinae was observed (40.22%) / bird followed by G. dissimilis (12.94), M. clyae (22.93) and C.

Pure and Applied Biology, 2022

The chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) are dorsoventrally flattened and wingless insects. The lice have strong mandibles for biting tissue debris and body feathers of their hosts. They have high capability to develop host specificity and cause acute to chronic effects on fitness of their hosts. They are responsible for numerous illnesses and also play a role as vector of some bacteria and helminthic worms. Presently, one type of large sized galliform bird, Common pea fowl Pavocristatus was selected for collection, identification, population density and rate of infestation of the parasitic insects, chewing lice from urban and rural areas of district Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan. 20 Common pea fowl Pavocristatus were collected for chewing lice. The study was conducted from December 2016 to October 2017. Common pea fowls were kept on white paper sheet for about 30 minutes and sprayed through coopex powder (Permathrin) in their wings. The infested birds were tagged with identity rings to check their lice population after interval of 2 to 3 weeks. The collected lice were preserved in 75% ethanol. The permanent microscopic slides were prepared with canada balsam through standard method of preservation. Presently total 150 chewing lice specimens were recovered which belongs to 04 genera of 02 families. These species and their prevalence are 33.33% for Colpocephalum tausi (Nitzsch, 1818) 24.01% for Menacanthus stramineus (Nitzsh, 1818), and 14.01% for Menacanthus pallidulus(Neumann, 1912) belongs to family Menoponidae 18.01% Goniodes dissimilis, Denny, 1842 and 10.67% for Lipeurus tropicalis, Peters, 1931 belongs to family Philopteridae. All these five species were reported first time as new host and new locality record from the study area. The result of present study revealed that one of a cause of reduced production of eggs, meat and feathers in poultry birds is the presence of chewing lice on their body which causes weakness, sickness, lethargicness and fatalness in game birds. All lice species were studied and described comprehensively.

A cross sectional study was undertaken from December 2014 up to April 2015 to determine the prevalence of lice and fleas and identify different species of ectoparasites infesting backyard chickens of Bishoftu town as well as to assess the effect of host related risk factors. Samples were randomly taken from 140 backyard chickens and Age, sex and breed of the study population was simultaneously recorded. Lice and fleas were collected from different parts of the body including shank scraping and identified with stereomicroscopy or light microscopy. An overall 123(87.86%) prevalence was recorded and four species of ectoparasites under two orders (Phthiraptera (lice) and Siphonaptera (flea) were identified, of these 77(62.6%), 26 (21.1%) and 20 (16.3%) of them were infested by only lice, flea and both lice and flea species respectively. Among this, three species of lice, Menacanthus stramineus (33.57%), Menopon gallinae (20.71%) and Cuclotogaster heterographa (15%) and one species of flea, Echidnophaga gallinacean (32.86%) were identified. Among the potential predisposing factors assessed breed was found significantly associated with the level of infestation (P=0.004). Higher prevalence rate was recorded in exotic breed (89%) than local one (82.18%). However, age and sex were not found significantly associated with the level of infestation (P>0.05). In conclusion, the study revealed that lice and fleas are highly prevalent in the study backyard chickens. Therefore, efforts should have to be geared towards the improvement of health and management practices through better awareness creation among poultry households and strategic control schemes should be implemented to alleviate the problems in order to affirm the contribution of poultry in food security and further detailed study should be recommended.

Although there are about 520 species of birds in Iran, but only some of them have been checked for ectoparasites so far.The aim of this study was to check some more available species of the birds of Iran for lice.

Avian Biology Research, 2013

The ecological diversity and distribution of ectoparasites on Greater Flamingo chicks ( Phoenicopterus roseus) were investigated in Algeria at two distinct sites: Ezzemoul (Hauts Plateaux) and Safioune (Sahara) at the end of the breeding seasons of 2009 and 2011. Results from the first records for the Greater Flamingo in North Africa, indicate that they were infested by the following louse species: Colpocephalum heterosoma Piaget and Triniton femoratum Piaget (Menoponidae); Anaticola phoenicopteri (Coinde) and Anatoecus pygaspis Nitzsch (Philopteridae). These data support the hypothesis of a connectivity of the Greater Flamingo metapopulation across the Mediterranean region. The results also suggest that there was a spatial segregation in the distribution of the various louse species across distinct body parts of their hosts. Adaptive explanations for this niche partitioning are suggested.

Revue Scientifique et Technique de l'OIE, 2013

This paper (No. 19112013-00015-EN) has been peer-reviewed, accepted, edited, and corrected by the authors. It has no yet been formatted for printing. It will be published in December 2013 in issue 32 (3) of the Scientific and Technical Review.

Lice (Insecta, Phthiraptera) are permanent ectoparasites of birds and mammals. Despite having a rich avifauna in Iran, limited number of studies have been conducted on lice fauna of wild birds in this region. This study was carried out to identify lice species of passerine birds in East of Iran. A total of 106 passerine birds of 37 species were captured. Their bodies were examined for lice infestation. Fifty two birds (49.05%) of 106 captured birds were infested. Overall 465 lice were collected from infested birds and 11 lice species were identified as follow: Brueelia chayanh on Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), B. nebulosa on Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), B. subtilis on House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and Tree Sparrow (P. montanus), B. gobiensis on Desert Finch (Carduelis obsoleta), Philopterus pallescens on Great Tit (Parus major), P. montani and Campanulotes compar on Tree Sparrow, P. fringillae on Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), House Sparrow and Chestnut-shouldered Petronia (Petronia xanthocollis), Sturnidoecus refractariolus on House Sparrow and Common Rock-Sparrow (Pe. petronia), S.

African Entomology, 2019

Parasitism is a hostile relationship that helps greatly in the development and evolution of many creatures in their race for survival. Chewing lice of nestlings of the osprey Pandion haliaetus (L.) have been studied in Farasan Island, Saudi Arabia. All previous chewing lice records from this bird have also been reviewed. Four species of chewing lice are previously known to infest P. haliaetus. The nestlings of the osprey in Farasan were only infested by Colpocephalum turbinatum Denny, 1842. This species of chewing lice is recorded herein for the first time from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its distributional pattern is very characteristic among three different avian orders (Accipitriformes, Columbiformes, and Strigiformes). Colpocephalum turbinatum was found mainly on terrestrial birds of the order Columbiformes and it may be transferred to predatory birds in the other two orders, but the presence of this parasite on some aquatic birds of prey like osprey may indicate that the ancestors of these birds were terrestrial hunters that acquired this louse from their prey such as doves and pigeons before their transference to aquatic life. The pattern of chewing lice distribution through their host populations and habitats may reveal some important ecological and evolutionary events that happened to their hosts in the past.