Research Article

Grasscutter: The Haematology and Major Parasites

Grasscutter contributes to both the local and export earnings of most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the local market level, for example, approximately 73 tons of grasscutter meat representing more than 15, 000 animals can be sold in a year. According to recent survey, the grasscutter continues to dominate the bush meat trade. However, international trade as well as regional and continental interests in the grasscutter meat provides economic bases for the development of the grasscutter industry. The industry will be greatly enhanced through the establishment of breeding centres to provide stocks for farmers and other growers who will multiply its’ production and also provide additional source of income, desperately required in the quest to help the rural poor to meet their basic necessities and sustain their food security. Detailed information on the health and diseases of these rodents are reported here. Some of the disease agents include species of gastrointestinal helminthes (nematodes, trematodes, cestodes and acanthocephala) and haemoparasites (Trypanosoma, Babesia and Plasmodium species).

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How to cite this article

M.N. Opara, 2010. Grasscutter: The Haematology and Major Parasites. Research Journal of Parasitology, 5: 214-223.

URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=jp.2010.214.223

Comments

tandong iris Reply

13 September, 2010

i wish to know more on the worm burden of can rats(thryonomys swinderianus)and normal blood parameters of cane rats(WBC and RBC)

opara maxwell

27 September, 2010

Thanks for your concerns. You may wish to consult our article published in Life Science Journal. 2008;5(3) 50 - 56 for information on worm burden of grasscutters and Opara and Fagbemi (2008)in the Annals of New York Acad. of Sciences; 1149: 394-397 for WBC and RBC

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M.N. Opara

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