The distribution and epidemiology of bovine trypanosomosis in Malawi

This study was conducted in Dembecha Woreda of Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia. The study was carried out on 384 indigenous cattle kept in mixed crop-livestock production system to estimate the prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis and associated risk factors. The study employed parasitological survey (buffy coat examination) and hematological study (packed cell volume [PCV] and thin blood smear). In the present study, the overall prevalence of trypanosomosis was 8.6% (33/384). Trypanosoma congolense (54.54%) and Trypanosome vivax (45.45%) were the only two species of Trypanosomas encountered in the study area. Among the risk factors, sex and age were found to have no significant association with the prevalence of trypanosomosis (p>0.05), but body condition and coat color of animals were found to have a significant association (p<0.05) with prevalence of trypanosomosis in the studied animals. In this study infected animals were with mean PCV value of 22.94 ± 2.70% which is significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of the non-infected animals (27.24 ± 5.02%). The study concluded that Trypanosomosis being an economically important disease in cattle the 8.6% prevalence entail that more attention should be given to be adapting on integrated disease control strategy including the vector as well as the parasites.

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“…Cattle with mean PCV values ≤ 24% were considered anaemic [32]. In the current study, 48.48% of the parasitemic cattle were anaemic (Table 3).…”

Section: Hematological Examinationmentioning

confidence: 73%

Prevalence of Bovine Trypanosomosis in Dembecha Woreda Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia

Mekonnen¹,

Eshetu²,

Zeryehun³

2017

J Vet Sci Technol

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“…The adverse effects of increasing human population on the density of tsetse flies and game animals have been known for a long time (Swynnerton, 1921), and were the main reasons identified by Ford (1963) for the retreat of tsetse from extensive areas of Malawi (then Nyasaland). The subsequent concentration of tsetse flies in protected areas, such as national parks, game reserves, and forest reserves, where the natural tsetse habitat is still present, was confirmed during the tsetse and the trypanosomiasis surveys conducted under the auspices of the Regional Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Control Project (Van den Bossche et al, 2000). The NGR is one of these remaining foci of tsetse flies in Malawi.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…A buffer zone was established to demarcate the game reserve from the surrounding settled area, but in the absence of a physical barrier around the NGR, there has been extensive encroachment of people and their livestock into the buffer zone, and in some areas into the game reserve, resulting in the destruction of the natural vegetation (Fig. 1) The NGR is infested with Glossina morsitans morsitans and, to a much lesser extent, with G. brevipalpis (Van den Bossche et al, 2000). The vegetation in the NGR is mainly Miombo woodland, with Brachystegia and Jubernadia being the major tree species.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, tsetse flies will be more and more confined to these protected areas, with people and livestock being challenged by the tsetse flies at the edge of such protected areas. Such interfaces already exist in, for example, Malawi and part of the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa (Van den Bossche et al, 2000Bossche et al, , 2006. Although the eradication of tsetse in protected areas would be a permanent solution to the trypanosomiasis problem, environmental concerns often make tsetse control in such areas an unlikely option.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The game reserve is an important focus of human sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense) (Pugh, 1987). Moreover, livestock trypanosomiasis is considered to be a threat to livestock in the areas surrounding the game reserve (Van den Bossche et al, 2000;Van den Bossche, 2001). To improve the management of human and livestock trypanosomiasis along the Nkhotakota Game Reserve game/people/livestock interface, and to obtain a first insight into the dynamics and factors affecting the dynamics of the tsetse population at such an interface, a study was conducted to determine the distribution and density of tsetse along the edge and inside the game reserve.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Distribution and Density of Tsetse Flies (Glossinidae: Diptera) at the Game/People/Livestock Interface of the Nkhotakota Game Reserve Human Sleeping Sickness Focus in Malawi

et al. 2009

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In large parts sub-Saharan Africa, tsetse flies, the vectors of African human or animal trypanosomiasis, are, or will in the foreseeable future, be confined to protected areas such as game or national parks.Challenge of people and livestock is likely to occur at the game/livestock/people interface of such infested areas.Since tsetse control in protected areas is difficult, management of trypanosomiasis in people and/or livestock requires a good understanding of tsetse population dynamics along such interfaces. The Nkhotakota GameReserve, an important focus of human trypanosomiasis in Malawi, is a tsetse-infested protected area surrounded by a virtually tsetse-free zone. The abundance of tsetse (Glossina morsitans morsitans) along the interface, within and outside the game reserve, was monitored over 15 months using epsilon traps. A land cover map described the vegetation surrounding the traps. Few flies were captured outside the reserve. Inside, the abundance of tsetse at the interface was low but increased away from the boundary. This uneven distribution of tsetse inside the reserve is attributed to the uneven distribution of wildlife, the main host of tsetse, being concentrated deeper inside the reserve. Challenge of people and livestock at the interface is thus expected to be low, and cases of trypanosomiasis are likely due to people and/or livestock entering the reserve. Effective control of trypanosomiasis in people and livestock could be achieved by increasing the awareness among people of dangers associated with entering the reserve.

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