Comparative Study on the Prevalence of Trypanosomes Among Cattle in Selected Abattoirs and Confined Feedlots (Farms) in Parts of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The prevalence of trypanosome infection among cattle in selected abattoirs and confined feedlots (farms) in parts of Kaduna State, Nigeria was investigated.
Wet mount, thin films, thick films, animal inoculation, Haematocrit Centrifugation Technique and Buffy Coat Methods were used to detect trypanosomes from the jugular blood of the animals.
The Packed Cell Volume (PCV) was also determined. A total of 450 cattle were examined from the selected abattoirs.
The prevalence in cattle among the selected Abattoirs studied showed that Trypanosoma brucei, T. congolense, and T. vivax had a prevalence of 33.87%, 30.65%, and 35.48% respectively, and the prevalence in all the selected farms studied showed that T. brucei, T. congolense, and T. vivax has a prevalence rate of 33.33% each.
Mean PCV of all the cattle in the selected abattoirs is 38.44%, while the mean PCV of all the cattle in the selected farms is 40.63%. Sex did not significantly (p>0.05) affect infection rates.
PCR using specific primers for T. brucei, T. congolense and vivax showed that 11.5% of the 26 tested animal blood were infected by at least one of these Trypanosoma species studied except T. vivax.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Animal Trypanosomiasis is a disease complex caused by several species of protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma.
The parasite is transmitted to mammalian hosts through the bite of an infected tsetse fly which causes African sleeping sickness, a fatal disease in humans, and “nagana” in cattle.
Trypanosomes are unicellular protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Trypanosoma. These include many species which causes several diseases in humans and livestock, species of major threat to cattle,
Although, small ruminants may not often show clinical signs of the disease, it is assumed that the ruminants are rarely affected under natural conditions and that trypanosomosis of sheep and goats is not a serious problem (Kalejaiye et al., 1995).
Several experimental studies have shown that small ruminants are fully susceptible to infection with pathogenic trypanosomes (MC Guire et al., 1985; Whitelaw et al., 1985).
In addition, infection in sheep and goats is frequently reported from field surveys (Kanyari et al., 1986; Mawuena, 1986; Mewuena, 1988) and the economic impact of trypanosomiasis on small ruminants is substantial (Kanyari et al., 1986).
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