Clinical disease associated with Trypanosoma theileri infection in a calf in Ireland

Abstract

A four-month-old calf had a clinical history of pyrexia, anaemia, weight loss and behavioural abnormality. Clinical examination revealed evidence of regenerative anaemia and a lymphocytosis which was characterised by a relatively large B cell population. The calf deteriorated clinically while under observation and its prescapular and prefemoral lymph nodes became enlarged. Examination of a blood smear revealed the presence of a large number of circulating Trypanasoma theileri. Serological examination showed the presence of the invariant, stage-specific, trypanosome surface antigen, ISG70 and antibodies against ISG70. ISG70 was first identified in the bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei and has not previously been found in T theileri. Clinical recovery was associated with an increase in packed cell volume, a decrease in the levels of circulating anti-ISG70 antibodies and the complete disappearance of circulating ISG70.

The potential impact of native Australian trypanosome infections on the health of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

“…This concept has been demonstrated in detail with the non-pathogenic trypanosomatid Crithidia bombi, which infects bumblebees (Brown et al 2003), and under conditions of stress results in disease. It has also been suggested to explain the phenomenon of clinical trypanosomiasis in cattle infected with the non-pathogenic bovine trypanosome T. theileri (Doherty et al 1993;Seifi, 1995;Ward et al 1984). Trypanosomiasis-induced immunosuppression which is the mechanism behind trypanosome potentiation of concurrent infections was first observed in trypanosome-infected rats and mice challenged with heterologous red blood cells (Goodwin, 1970;Goodwin et al 1972).…”

“…Condition-dependent virulence has been reported in non-pathogenic trypanosome infection (Brown et al 2003). Infection with T. theileri has been associated with severe, sometimes fatal, disease in immunosuppressed animals or in the presence of concurrent infections (Ward et al 1984;Doherty et al 1993;Seifi, 1995).…”

Isolation of Trypanosoma (Megatrypanum) theileri from Dairy Cattle in Taiwan

“…theileri has been reported around the world [12,22,31] and continues to be reported in cattle in Europe [5,9,27], Australia [29], Africa [24], North and South America [6,15,19], Asia [21,23] and most recently in Spain [28]. In Asia, T. theileri has been observed in Russia, Indo-china, Malaya (Singapore), China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea and Japan [13], but not in Taiwan.…”

Association of Trypanosoma theileri with peritonitis in a pregnant cross-bred cow: a case report

“…It has previously been observed in the sero-sanguineus fluid from the submadibular oedema from a bullock exhibiting clinical signs similar to black quarter disease in the Karnataka state of India (Muraleedharan et al, 1985). The parasite has also been detected in other tissues and fluids, e.g., the lymph node aspirate of a cow calf (Doherty et al, 1993), bovine spleen (Oyamada et al, 1995), cerebrospinal fluid of a heifer (Braun et al, 2002) and from the heart, lung, kidney and thoracic and cerebrospinal fluid of a prematurely born calf (Mitchell and Long, 1980). Though detectable peripheral blood parasitaemia in cases of T. evansi infection is a common finding (Gill, 1991), yet in contrast T. theileri has been mostly detected in body fluids and tissues other than blood (Mitchell and Long, 1980;Muraleedharan et al,1985;Doherty et al, 1993;Oyamada et al, 1995).…”