Parasites burden in peri-urban free-roaming pigs in Gert Sibande District Municipality, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Parasite infections, unlike regulated animal diseases, do not often receive attention. In fact, parasites are major sources of financial losses in pig enterprises, particularly in subsistence and small-scale pig production systems.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and quantify the prevalence of ecto- and endo-parasites among peri-urban free-roaming pigs (FRP) in Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM), Mpumalanga.

METHODS: Pig owners were identified using the snowball sampling method since no sampling frame for FRP farmers exists. Stratified sampling was used to select pigs for sampling for ecto- and endo-parasites. A form was used to record the observations. Pairwise correlation analysis was performed using Stata 15.0. The SPSS V28.0 statistical package was used to perform the chi-square test (X2 ) to assess the distribution of parasites in different age groups. The prevalence of parasites was assessed in different age groups of pigs using multi-response crosstabs. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to estimate the marginal mean of parasites according to municipality. Statistical significance was assessed at α ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS: Over 90% (91.2%) of the pigs examined were infested with at least one parasite, including Haematopinus suis , Sarcoptes scabiei , Ascaris suum , Fasciola hepatica , Trichuris suis , Strongylids , Coccidia spp, Moniezia expansa , and Siphonaptera spp. The correlation between Ascaris suum and body condition was weak but statistically significant (r = 0.24; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Policy makers, animal researchers and veterinary services must focus on developing policies, risk communication and community engagement materials, which target pig farmers in peri-urban areas such as Gert Sibande District Municipality, Mpumalanga Province.