Prevalence of Camel Trypanosomosis at Selected Districts of Bale Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Article InformationAcross-sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 at selected districts of Bale zone, Oromia Regional States of Ethiopia to determine the prevalence of camel trypanosmosis and assess associated potential risk factors. Simple random sampling technique was used and the study animals were selected based on the camel population of the district in the study area. The wet, thin smear and the Buffy coat examination was employed under microscope. Out of 392 examined animals, 70 (17.9%) were positive for Trypanosome evansi. There was statistically significant difference between age groups, districts of the animals and trypanosome infection (P<0.05). Higher prevalence of the infection was recorded in Age group of >4 years (27.6%) followed by 3 years (14.5%) and 3-4 years old camels (10.5%) respectively. However, there was no statistically significant difference observed between sex with the occurrence of the disease (P>0.05). The highest prevalence of the disease was observed in Delo-Mena district, 42 (23.9%) whereas the lowest was recorded in Goro district, 9 (9.90%) during the study period. The result of the current study revealed that camel trypanosmosis was highly prevalent in the study area. Thus, there is need of further study on the distribution and seasonality of the disease and its vectors in order to establish effective prevention and control measures in affected herd.

Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Trypanosoma evansi in Camels in Ethiopia Based on Parasitological Examinations

“…A relatively higher prevalence was reported as compared with the findings of [ 20 – 22 ] who reported prevalence of 3.9%, 0.3%, and 2% of T. evansi in camels in Jijiga Zone of Somalia, Issa (Afar), and Tigray, respectively. On the other hand, the finding of the present study is lower than that of a previous study [ 23 , 24 ] which reported prevalence 72% and 17.9% of T. evansi in camels in Bale Zone and Jijiga Administrative Zone, respectively. This might be due to the variations in the ecology of the study areas and seasons of the year.…”

“…The agewise comparison indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between age groups and the occurrence of the disease ( X 2 = 4.74; P =0.029) in which the higher infection rate was recorded above four years old camels than that of below four years old camels, 7.47% and 1.07%, respectively. This result is in line with other findings [ 24 , 26 , 27 ]. This might be due to heavy stress associated with their use for various purposes like transportation of goods, and suboptimal management practices may also have contributed to the higher prevalence of T. evansi infection noted in older camels [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Prevalence of camel trypanosomosis and associated risk factors in Arero district, Borena Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…The present study is in agreement with the fi nding of Abera, et al, [41], who recorded higher infection rate in male (20.3%) than female (17.3%). Similarly, Bogale, et al, [18], in Delo Mena District, Bale zone also reported on sex related differences in prevalence of camel trypanosomes, that a higher infection was found in males (20.25%) as compared to females (17.72%).…”

“…This result agrees with a previous report from Jijiga, Somali Region, Ethiopian, who reported that in adult camels above 4 years old had a signifi cantly higher prevalence of infection as compared to the young ones below 4years old [34]. The current result is in line with that of Abera, et al, [41], in bale zone in which higher infection rate was recorded in camel above 4 years. Similar suggestion was also given in the study in Saudi Arabia who reported that the younger were less susceptible to infection than adults [42].…”

Camel Dromedary Tuberculosis: A Review

“…This number ranks the country third in Africa after Somalia and Sudan and fourth in the world (India included). The arid and semiarid areas of the country that constitute more than 60% of the total area and home of 7.8 million pastoral and agro-pastoral communities are suitable for camel production (Abebe, 2000).and play a significant multi-purpose role in transporting grain, water, salt and other goods as well as for milk and meat production (Abera et al, 2014). In recent years, camels have become one of the national export animals for Ethiopians (Kasaye et al, 2013).…”