Molecular Identification of Trypanosome Species in Cattle of the Mikumi Human/Livestock/Wildlife Interface Areas, Tanzania

Abstract

Trypanosomosis is a major neglected disease of animals and man that causes great negative socio-economic impact in many African countries. It is caused by protozoan parasites of the blood from the genus Trypanosoma. Previous studies have investigated the prevalence and risk factors of trypanosomosis in Tanzania, but none has been done in the human/ livestock/wildlife interface areas of Mikumi National Park. The present study determined prevalence of trypanosomosis in cattle blood sampled in five villages of the Mikumi interface areas. Trypanosome species were identified using the nested ITS-PCR and SRA-LAMP. Acquired biodata and spatial information were used for the analysis of risk factors based on the proximity from the park. Data analysis for categorical variables was performed using Chi-square, Fishers exact test, Odds and Risk ratios. Maps were created using the ArcMap ™ version 10.1 GIS software (ESRI 2012). Overall prevalence was 51.47%. Infection significantly varied among the 5 villages (p = 0.0022). The study identified 7 different species of trypanosomes. Trypanosoma simiae had the highest rate of infection 48.15%, followed by T. theileri 26.67%, T. vivax 16.30%, T. brucei brucei 4.44%, T. congolense forest 2.22%, T. simiae tsavo 1.48% and T. congolense kilifi 0.74%. No zoonotic species were identified. High density vegetation (p = 0.0001) and human activity (livestock market and cattle movement) (p = 0.0001) were identified as strong risk factors for infection. Areas with charco dams (p = 0.0001) and those close to tsetse screens and traps (p = 0.0006) had significantly lower infection prevalence. Identifying risk factors, quantifying the risk and doing spatial analysis is essential to determine the control measures to be used in the affected rural communities.

Influence of Seasonal Cattle Movement on Prevalence of Trypanosome Infections in Cattle in the Maasai Steppe, Tanzania

“…This is in agreement with a study done in this area which revealed that abundance of tsetse flies and host species increased adjacent to TNP [14,17]. Similar findings were observed by [4] that proximity to Mikumi National Park had implication on prevalence of trypanosome infection in cattle.…”

“…Infections in our study were from 8 different trypanosome species, of which T. simiae was the most prevalent. This agrees with [4] who reported this species response on search for pasture was observed in Sukuro and Kimotorok while search for water was reported to be highest in Kimotorok ( Table 5).…”

“…Animal African Trypanosomosis (AAT) is amongst the tropical [1,2] neglected [1], endemic [3] and economically important [4] diseases affecting livestock in many African countries, including Tanzania. The causative agents in cattle include Trypanosoma congolense, T. brucei and T. vivax [5,6].…”

Influence of Land Cover and Host Species on Trypanosome Infection in Cattle and its Socio-Economic Impacts to Pastoralists of the Maasai Steppe, Tanzania

“…congolense as a positive control. The positivity or negativity of the sample was determined based on definite DNA fragment size seen on gels as specified in previous studies [20,21]. During detection of trypanosome species, E-Box imaging system (E-Box CX5 Vilber Lourmart) was used to visualize the Gel images ( Figure 2).…”

“…Land covers for habitats and cultivated area in grazing areas in each of the three village (Kimotorok, Oltukai and Sukuro) during the study period. diversity and habitats) are either positively or negatively associated with the trypanosome infection and other livestock diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and East coast fever which have been reported in many other studies[2,7,21,[23][24][25].…”