Ectoparasites of Pigeon Tamed Locally in West and North Zone of Quetta City, Pakistan

Abstract

In the present study ectoparasites prevalence on domestic pigeon, Columba livia domestica (Linnaeus, 1789) in Quetta (GPS coordinates of 30° 10' 59.7720'' N and 66° 59' 47.2272'' E) was evaluated. Two main regions of the city (Nawa Killi and Wahdat colony) were selected for this study. Two hundred forty-eight pigeons including sixty-eight squabs were examined externally for the presence of ectoparasites during the winter and summer month of 2019. Two ectoparasites species were recorded including the shaft louse, Menopon gallinae (Phthiraptera: Menoponidae), the brown poultry louse, Goniodes dissimilis (Psocodea: Philopteridae), with 65%, 32.55% (adult pigeons and squabs), and 47.5% prevalence compared to 100%, 78%, and 76.32% respectively. It was observed that the infestation rate in the summer season was higher compared to the winter season. Female pigeons were observed to be more infested than male individuals and squabs. It was also found that adult birds are more sensitized to the infestation than young birds while birds with poor body condition were highly sensitized to the infestation which shows a clear correlation with food and lice infestation hence may pose a threat to racing pigeons in the Quetta region. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the ectoparasites of pigeons in Quetta (Balochistan), Pakistan.