Background: According to the WHO (2019), more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are infected with soil-transmitted parasites. Previous research in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) was mainly conducted in the area of the Sarajevo Canton. Therefore, the aim of the research was to explore contamination of soil and vegetation with developmental forms of parasites in the other cantons of FB&H. Methods: Between Apr and Oct 2018, a total of 1,618 soil and vegetation samples were taken from 386 different locations in the 9 cantons of the FB&H. Results: Positive samples were observed, 65/66 (98.48%) municipalities/cities and on 239/386 (61.92%) locations. Out of 1,618 samples taken in total (1,263 soil samples and 355 vegetation samples), 357 (22.06%) were positive, out of which 337 (26.68%) and 20 (5.63%) were soil and plant samples, respectively. In total, the following adult and developmental forms were identified: Taeniidae eggs (7.30%), Toxocara spp. eggs (62.08%), Ancylostomatidae eggs (25.00%), Trichuris spp. eggs (9.55%), Capillaria spp. eggs (3.37%), Toxascaris leonina eggs (1.40%), Nematodes larvae (19.38%), Giardia duodenalis cysts (5.06%), Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts (1.4%), oocysts and cysts of different species of Protozoa (3.93%). Conclusion: The identified developmental forms of parasites pose a permanent threat to human health. It is necessary to carry out measures to reduce the contamination of soil and vegetation in coordination with systematic solutions (legislation), paralelly with contribution of animal owners, veterinarians, physicians, ecologists, parents and all the others involved in this issue.

Abstract More than 30 dog parasite species have been identified in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far, and half of these are zoonotic. The aim of the study was to investigate the occurrence of parasitic infections in dogs from Bosnian-podrinje canton with a focus on zoonotic parasites. The study included 212 dogs (107 owned and 105 stray). One or more of the twenty parasite species were found in 82.55% of tested samples. Dicrocoelium dendriticum (Class Trematoda) was found in 0.94% of dogs. Dipylidium caninum and Mesocestoides lineatus (Class Cestoda) were found in 7.55% and 0.94% of dogs, respectively. Taenia spp. and Echinococcus spp. (Family Taeniidae) were found in 0.47% and 0.94% of samples, respectively. In the family of Nematoda, the following parasite species were identified with corresponding percent among tested dogs: Toxocara canis (25.94%), Toxascaris leonine (8.96%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.47%), Ancylostoma caninum (3.77%), Uncinaria stenocephala (52.36%), Trichuris vulpis (22.17%), Eucoleus aerophilus (1.42%), Dirofilaria immitis (1.89%) and Dirofilaria repens (1.42%). In the kingdom of Protozoa, the following parasite species were identified with corresponding percent among tested dogs: Cystoisospora canis (8.49%), C. ohioensis (2.36%), Cryptosporidium spp. (4.72%), Sarcocystis spp. (0.47%), Babesia spp. (5.19%), and Giardia duodenalis (15.57%). Leishmania infantum was not identified in tested samples. The results showed a high level of parasitic infestation in the dog population in the Bosnian-Podrinje canton, with a high occurrence of zoonotic parasites. Significant differences were found between owned and stray dogs for all classes of detected parasites with exception of the class Trematoda, disregarding specific parasite species.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of test mixture or probiotic addition to drinking water on the growth performance of broiler chickens. A total of 240 one-day-old Cobb 500 chickens were distributed into three groups with eight replicates in each (10 chickens in each replicate). The control group of chickens (C) were without treatment. The chickens in experimental group E1 were treated with the commercial probiotic Probios® and the chickens in experimental group E2 were treated with the test mixture (Lactobacillus acidophilus culture, inactivated baker’s yeast, C vitamin, lactose and glucose) prepared using the authors’ own recipe. Treatments of chickens were conducted during the first three days of life and for three days using the chickens’ vaccination drinking water. The experiment lasted for 42 days. Feed and water were offered ad libitum during the experiment. Body weight, daily feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass weight, carcass yield and European production index (EPI) were studied in this experiment. The addition of the experimental probiotic significantly increased (P<0.05) body weight gain at 21, 35 and 42 days of age, however, the probiotic Probios® improved body weight gain over the same period without any significant difference compared to the control group. FCR was significantly improved at 21 and 35 days of age in both E1 and E2 groups, but at the end of fattening the FCR was not affected. Feed consumption was not influenced by the treatments. The results obtained indicate that carcass weight significantly increased (P<0.05) in the groups of chickens treated by the test mixture or probiotic. It was concluded that addition of test mixture or probiotic improved body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass weight and EPI.

In the present study modern technology of DNA extraction and automatic genotyping was applied in Bosnian and Herzegovinian autochthonous horse breed by using 17-Plex horse genotyping kit. The study was aimed at investigating usefulness of the 17-plex STR Kit for Bosnian mountain horse genotyping and establishing highly useful microsatellite markers system for genetic diversity studies in Bosnian mountain horse breed. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood collected from 22 unrelated Bosnian mountain horse specimens. A total of 95 alleles were detected. Average number of detected alleles per locus was 5.588, varying from 3 (HTG7) to 10 (ASB17). Average effective number of alleles was 3.603, fluctuating from 1.789 (HMS7) to 5.728 (HMS2). The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.136 (HMS3) to 0.909 (ASB2) with a mean of 0.631. The results indicate that the studied population originates from the appropriate number of parent generations. The mean expected heterozygosity was 0.690, varying from 0.441 (HMS7) to 0.853 (ASB17) indicating high genetic variability within Bosnian mountain horse population. The PIC values ranged from 0.409 (HMS7) to 0.837 (ASB17) with a mean of 0.643, suggesting that 94.12% markers were quite informative in terms of their suitability for genetic diversity studies .The most polymorphic locus was HMS2 and the least polymorphic locus was HMS7. The inbreeding coefficient ranged from -0.030 (HMS7) to 0.807 (HMS3) with a mean of 0.077. Inbreeding coefficient values indicated no shortage of heterozygotes in Bosnian mountain horses. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0,05) was found in three loci (HTG10, HMS3 and ASB17). The applied set of 17 microsatellite markers proved to be sufficiently specific for use in genotyping of Bosnian mountain horse. Considering the values of HO, HEand PIC over 0.6, five microsatellite markers system (HTG4, AHT4, AHT5, ASB2, HMS2) is considered to be highly useful for genetic diversity studies in Bosnian mountain horse breed.

The aim of the present study was to investigate values of hematological and some biochemical parameters of autochthonous Bosnian mountain horse breed by revealing the differences related to age and gender. These horses are adapted to specific environmental and climatic conditions in the region and their blood parameters might differ from other horse breeds. Blood samples were collected on stud farm “Borike” from 30 clinically healthy adult horses of both gender (16 females and 14 males), aged between two and twenty-three years. Horses were grouped in three age classes: young mature horses (2-6 years, n=10), middle age horses (7-14 years, n=10) and old horses (>14 years, n=10). A total of eleven hematological and twelve biochemical parameters were analyzed. Gender significantly affected LYM (p=0.009), EOS (p=0.016), UREA (p=0.018), P (p=0.028), TBIL (p=0.048) and AMYL (p=0.033) levels. Values of UREA, TBIL and AMYL were significantly higher in males, while values of LYM, EOS and P were significantly higher in females. Age significantly affected GLU (p=0.019) and UREA (p=0.001) levels. Values of GLU were significantly lower in middle age horses than in old horses while values of UREA were significantly lower in young mature horses than in middle age and old horses. UREA was the only parameter affected by both age and gender. Results obtained in the present study showed that gender had much more powerful effect on the investigated parameters in clinically healthy adult Bosnian mountain horses then did the age.