Research Article Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Helminths in Exotic and Indigenous Goats Slaughtered in Selected Abattoirs in Port Harcourt, South-South, Nigeria Ovutor Owhoeli, 1 Kingsley Elele, 2 and Lebari Barine Gboeloh 2 1 Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B 5323, Choba, Port Harcourt, Rivers State 500001, Nigeria 2 Department of Biology, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, P.M.B 5047, Port Harcourt, Rivers State 500001, Nigeria Correspondence should be addressed to Ovutor Owhoeli; ovuforever@yahoo.com Received 29 November 2013; Accepted 24 December 2013; Published 13 February 2014 Academic Editors: P. Durrens and Q. Yu Copyright © 2014 Ovutor Owhoeli et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A total of 213 faecal samples were collected from four abattoirs and households to determine the prevalence of helminthes infections in exotic and indigenous goats in Port Harcourt, South-South, Nigeria. he study revealed that out of 153 exotic goats (Red Sokoto) Capra hircus, 112 were infected with various species of gastrointestinal helminths; out of 60 indigenous goats (West African dwarf) Capra hircus, 49 were also infected with various types of gastrointestinal helminths. he formol-ether concentration method was used to analyse the specimens. he study revealed that an overall prevalence of (75.5%) was recorded, out of which 57 (76.0%), 55 (70.5%), and 49 (81.6%) were recorded for exotic goat in the months of May–September, 2010, exotic goat in the months October 2010–February, 2011 and for indigenous goats, respectively. he overall prevalence amongst the infected animals was not statistically signiicant ( > 0.05). Species of helminthes revealed from the study were, Haemonchus, Strongyloides, Chabertia, Trichuris, Osterta- gia, Bunostomum, Trichostrongyloida, Ascaris, Tenia, Avitelina, Fasciola, Eurytrema, Gastrothylax, Schistosoma, and Dicrocoelium. 1. Introduction Ruminants, cattle, goats and sheep, represent an important source of animal protein in many countries of the world, supplying a good percentage of the daily meat and dairy products in cities and villages in such countries including Nigeria [1]. Apart from being the source of animal protein, their wastes are also very important in agriculture [1, 2]. hese animals are used in special ceremonies such as wedding and burials in most parts of Nigeria. However, parasitic diseases coupled with inadequate management hampered the productive husbandry of these animals [2, 3]. Gastrointestinal parasitic infections are world-wide prob- lem for both small and large-scale farmers, but their impact is greater in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the availability of a wide range of agroecological factors suitable for diversiied hosts and parasite species [3]. Gastrointestinal parasites are known to be widespread in Nigeria [4, 5] and limit ruminant pro- duction in many areas of the country [5, 6]. he direct losses caused by these parasites are attributed to hyper-acuteness and death, premature slaughter, and rejection of some parts at meat inspection, whilst indirect losses include the reduction in productive potential such as decreased growth rate, weight loss, diarrhea, anorexia, and sometimes anaemia [7–9]. Helminths or worms cause a wide range of health prob- lems to both man and animals [10]. Helminthiasis, in large part, is caused by members of the phyla Nematoda and Platyhelminthes [11]. Species belonging to both phyla occupy numerous niches within their mammalian hosts, ranging from intestinal lumen to intravascular and even intracellular sites [12]. hey are responsible for substantial loss of produc- tivity in the livestock industry. heir harmful efects on these animals range from gastroenteritis, anorexia, abdominal distention, diarrhoea, emaciation, and so forth; all of which result in serious economic losses to the farmer and the nation in general [13]. Similarly, they constitute a major impediment to eicient and proitable livestock production [14]. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Chinese Journal of Biology Volume 2014, Article ID 435913, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/435913