Final answer:
Common intestinal parasites in dairy cattle include nematodes such as Trichinella and Ascaris, cestodes like Taenia sagenite, and protozoans causing diseases such as cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis. They impact cattle health by stealing nutrition and causing other health issues. Diagnosis is typically made via stool exams, and treatment includes antiparasitic medications.
Step-by-step explanation:
Intestinal parasites in dairy cattle can cause significant health issues. Among these, the helminths are the most common. Helminths are a group of parasites including nematodes (round-bodied worms), cestodes (flat-bodied segmented worms, also known as tapeworms), and trematodes (flat-bodied non-segmented worms, also known as flukes).
Two examples of nematodes are Trichinella, which can cause trichinosis from the consumption of undercooked meat and Ascaris, a large roundworm. These nematodes negatively impact the health of cattle by stealing nutrition and potentially causing intestinal blockages.
In the category of cestodes, Taenia saginata is a tapeworm that cattle can acquire by ingesting vegetation contaminated with eggs or gravid proglottids. Regarding protozoans, dairy cattle can suffer from illnesses like cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis, which can be transmitted through contaminated water and food or contact with infected feces.
Diagnosis of these parasitic infections often involves stool exams under a microscope or immunoassay tests, with treatments commonly including antiparasitic medications such as metronidazole.11