Concurrent infections of Ascaridia and Raillietina-induced mortality in poultry chicken-a case report

A dead poultry hen carcass with a history of decreased appetite with chronic loss of weight was presented for necropsy. During postmortem creamy-white cylindrical worms were found in the cluster which almost occluded the lumen of the small intestine. Few fine ribbon-like segmented organisms attached with the intestine mucosa were also observed. On the basis of morphological examination of these parasites it was found that the cylindrical parasites belonged to genus Ascaridia and the segmented organisms to genus Raillietina. Further microscopybased examination of the intestinal content revealed the presence of characteristic eggs of Ascaridia sp. It was concluded that the co-infection with these parasites may cause serious fatality in poultry birds.