Abstract
Fecal samples of 720 cattle were collected from four different areas of Lahore, that is, Military dairy farm, Government dairy farm, Gawala dairy colonies and House hold dairy cows. All samples were purified and cysts were quantified microscopically. DNA was extracted from the purified cysts and was amplified through polymerase chain reaction. The overall prevalence was 31.11% (224/720), where high prevalence was recorded in Government dairy farm (46.11%), followed by Gawala dairy colonies (36.11%), Military dairy farm (25.55%) and lowest was recorded in House hold dairy animals (16.66%). Overall cattle 2-3 years were observed to have higher Giardia prevalence compared to cattle of 3-7 years. High prevalence was observed in cows (31.71%, n = 640) as compared to bulls (26.25%, n = 80). Giardia prevalence was higher in autumn (36.66%) and lowest in winter (25%). There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in Giardia prevalence among the sampled farms in relation to age, sex of the cattle and season of the year.