A Brief Study of Morphology of Haemonchus contortus and its Hematophagous Behaviour

摘要

Haemonchus contortus (H. contortus) is a blood sucking intestinal helminth that lives in theabomasum of small ruminants worldwide. This parasite can be devastating to producers as it causes decreasedproduction levels due to clinical signs such as anaemia, edema and death. The abomasae of sheep in which thisparasite resides were collected from abattoirs of various districts and were then carried to laboratory forscreening. It is cylindrical and has a striking reddish appearance due to its blood-feeding habit. The female islonger (18 to 30 mm) than the male (10 to 20 mm). The males possess a relatively developed copulatory bursa,with an asymmetric dorsal lobe and a Y-shape dorsal ray. They both possess a cuticle, with three differentlayers (made of collagen and other secreted compounds), which has a principal function to protect the wormwhile it is in the digestive system of the hosts. The spicules are 460-506 μm long, each provided with a smallbarb near its extremity. The vulva of the female is usually covered by a linguiform process (vulva flap) whichis usually large and very prominent. Hematological studies revealed significant decrease in hemoglobinconcentration, packed cell volume and total erythrocyte count in infected sheep whereas total leukocytecount showed significant increase in the infected ones. The present study will try to open a new window intothe study of H. contortus which will be of great help in laying down the foundation of understanding theepidemiology and various aspects of other nematodes in the Kashmir Valley and will certainly be of potentialsignificance in planning and grazing management and other prophylactic strategies for ruminants in differentseasons of Kashmir Valley.