A comparison of Mini-FLOTAC and McMaster techniques in detecting gastrointestinal parasites in West Africa Dwarf sheep and goats and crossbreed rabbits

Figures & data

Figure 1. Collection of fecal samples from small ruminants and rabbits in Abomey-Calavi municipality.

Figure 2. The Fill -FLOTAC (a) currently associated to the Mini-FLOTAC ongoing to reading under microscope (b); CREMOPAR: http://www.parassitologia.unina.it/flotac/mini-flotac/

Table 1. Mean of eggs/oocysts (± ESM) and EPG/OPG (± ESM) of parasites in 40 fecal samples per animal species using two copromicroscopic techniques.

Mean of eggs/oocysts				Mean of EPG/OPG
Animal species	Mini-FLOTAC	McMaster	(P-value)	Mini-FLOTAC	McMaster	(P-value)
Sheep*	40.40 ± 11.05a	5.49 ± 01.29b	4.084e^−09	202.01 ± 99.25a	174.75 ± 69.15a	0.15
Goats*	29.47 ± 09.3a	2.87 ± 0.95b	<2e^−16	147.36 ± 51.95a	143.5 ± 41.21a	0.83
Rabbits**	26.15 ± 05.25a	2.61 ± 0.75b	1.05e^−15	130.75 ± 47.65a	130.5 ± 29.25a	0.26

Note: The different lowercase letters in the same column indicate statistically different values (p < 0.05).

*The mean of eggs of strongylida (more represented in fecal samples) has been used to perform the comparison between the Mini-FLOTAC and the McMaster concerning sheep ang goats.

**The mean of oocysts of Eimeria spp (more represented in fecal samples) has been used to perform the comparison between both diagnosis techniques regarding rabbits.

Figure 3. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites from goats detected by McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques. Each bar of the chart represents the proportion of animals infested. The letters on each bar compare the results obtained by both techniques through the two-proportions z-test in R with the function prop.test using. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference between values at p < 0.05.

Figure 4. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites from sheep detected by each of McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques. Each bar of the chart represents the proportion of animals infested. The letters on each bar compare the results obtained by both techniques through the two-proportions z-test in R with the function prop.test using. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference between values at p < 0.05.

Figure 5. Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites from rabbits detected by McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques. Each bar of the chart represents the proportion of animals infested. The letters on each bar compare the results obtained by both techniques through the two-proportions z-test in R with the function prop.test using. Different lowercase letters indicate a significant difference between values at p < 0.05.

Table 2. Coefficients of variation (CV), standard deviations (SD), and precision for the two egg-counting techniques evaluated in the study.

Animal species	Techniques	CV	SD	Precision (%)
			Mean of *eggs/oocysts**
Sheep	McMaster	40.22 (38.68–41.75)	2.21	59.78 (43.30–76.25)^a
	Mini-FLOTAC	14.48 (8.24–20.71)	5.85	85.52 (80.35–90.68)^b
Goat	McMaster	36.93 (35.51–38.34)	1.06	63.07 (45.68–80.45)^a
	Mini-FLOTAC	9.56 (5.44–13.67)	2.82	90.44 (84.97–95.90)^b
Rabbit	McMaster	50.48 (48.55–52.40)	1.32	49.52 (35.87–63.16)^a
	Mini-FLOTAC	10.26 (5.84–14.67)	2.68	89.74 (84.31–95.16)^b

*The mean of strongylida eggs counted beforehand in a third of the 40 fecal samples of sheep and goats randomly selected without discount has been used firstly to calculate the SD and afterwards to generate the precision of Mini-FLOTAC and the one of McMaster.

**The mean of oocysts of Eimeria spp counted beforehand in a third of the 40 fecal samples of rabbits randomly selected without discount served firstly to calculate the SD and afterwards to generate the precision of Mini-FLOTAC and the one of McMaster.

Different lowercase letters in the same column indicate a significant difference between values at p < 0.05 using the khi2 of Pearson test.

Note: 95% confidence intervals presented in parenthesis.

Figure 6. Scatterplot of gastrointestinal parasites egg counts determined with McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques from samples collected from naturally infected sheep.

Figure 7. Scatterplot of gastrointestinal parasites egg counts determined with McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques from samples collected from naturally infected goats.

Figure 8. Scatterplot of gastrointestinal parasites egg counts determined with McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC techniques from samples collected from naturally infected rabbits.

Table 3. Time taken to generate three replicate counts from 10 different sheep and rabbit fecal samples.

	Sheep		Rabbit
Samples	McMaster Time	Mini FLOTAC Time	McMaster Time	Mini FLOTAC Time
1	15:54	27:11	17:47	31:46
2	13:59	26:24	18:14	28:03
3	19:13	28:22	13:26	31:23
4	14:58	28:15	13:49	27:56
5	12:28	31:18	18:09	30:09
6	14:45	31:40	20:09	30:12
7	16:22	32:43	12:05	30:49
8	14:26	31:19	18:14	31:20
9	13:20	27:24	19:18	31:28
10	18:59	38:11	19:13	30:16
Mean time	15:18 (14:21-16:57)	30:08 (28:29-32:26)	17:12 (15:02-19:02)	30:12 (29:24-31:01)

Note: Time consumption is presented in minutes: seconds and includes preparation and counting of all three replicates for Mini-FLOTAC and McMaster techniques processing as well as a 95% confidence interval for the mean time of both techniques.