The helminth fauna of reindeer in the polar Urals

Abstract

In order to control the quality of carried out antiparasitic and devastation measures, as well as to monitor changes in the natural habitat of parasitic worms at the interspecies level in August 2018 in the laboratory for the study of invasive diseases of animals on the basis of the Department of Parasitology named after V. L. Yakimov at the "St. Petersburg State Academy of Veterinary Medicine", 50 samples of feces of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Polar Urals, the upper reaches of the Hanmei river) were examined according to the Darling's method, method of successive washes and the Wajda's method. To determine the generic affiliation of Strongylida nematodes, the invasive larvae were cultured from helminthes eggs according to the Petrov and Gagarin's method. Microscopy of the obtained temporary preparations was carried out using a light microscope Microton-200M (Petrolaser) according to the light field method. Photographing of objects was carried out with the help of the Xperia XA2 (SONY) smartphone. Identification was carried out using reference manuals. The parasitizing of gastrointestinal nematodes of Strongylida order the Molineidae family (Nematodirus spp.), Haemonchidae family (M. digitatus) and Trichostrongylidae family (Trichostrongylus spp.) (extensiveness of infestation: 100%), neuromuscular nematodes of the Strongylida order the Protostrongylidae family (E. rangiferi) (extensiveness of infestation: 12%), as well as gastrointestinal nematodes of the Spiruri-da order the Habronematidae family (P. skrjabini) (extensiveness of infestation: 20%) has been established according to detected eggs and larvae. Discovered gastrointestinal nematodes are typical parasites of ruminant animals, and E. rangiferi is a reindeer-specific helminth. The identification of the phases of development of these parasitic nematodes is the basis for recommending de-worming of the reindeer surveyed.