EPISOOTIC SITUATION ON HEL-MINTHIASIS OF HORSES IN PRIVATE FARMS OF THE LENINGRAD REGION

To study the spread of helminth infections and diagnosis of the helminth fauna in pri-vate horse breeding farms of the Leningrad Region, feces were survey studied from foals for a year, animals aged 1 year to 3 years, 3 years to 6 years old, 6 to 10 years old and over 10 years old. Gastrointestinal nematodoses were diagnosed using Dar-ling`s method with advanced flotation fluid, culturing larvae by the method of Petrov& Gagarin, and using microscopy of contents from perianal area.The dominance of gastro-intestinal strongylides in horses of all age groups has been found. Yearlings are infest-ed with trichonemas by 94.1%.Aling with age increasing, the intensity of invasion (II) is slightly reduced. In horses older than 10 years, the prevalence rate of trichonemic infection is 63.9%. Strongyloidosis was de-tected in 70.5% of foals up to a year old.At the age of one to 3 years, a slight decline in II is observed, but when reaching 3 years and further, with increasing age, II gradually increases. Horses from 3 to 6 years of age (II = 80.0%) are more infected with parascaris-es. Yearlings are infested with parascarises by 56.2%, and in horses older than 10 years, II is 30.7%.Horses a