Prevalence of trypanosome infections in ruminants in the Southern Guinea Savanna, Nigeria.

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of trypanosomes in cattle and sheep in Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State, southern guinea savanna, Nigeria. Animals were sampled in 12 villages from the districts of Bondong, Fada, Kadarko, Kukum, Manchok and Zankan. Sampling visits were undertaken on seasonal basis in the late wet season (October), early dry season (December), late dry season (February) and early wet season (June). Three- ml blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of 395 cattle and 37 sheep. The results revealed that 21.53 ± 1.97% (range 9.4-43.8% per village) of the total animals were infected with various species of trypanosomes, with the prevalence in bovine and ovine being 20.51 ± 2.03% and 32.43 ± 7.69% respectively. Trypanosoma vivax had the highest infection rates (64.52%), followed by T. brucei (18.30%) and T. congolense (17.20%). Infections varied significantly among the districts, ranging from 9.7% at Zankan to 36.9% at Manchok (t=13.08; df=3; p<0.05; p-value=0.001). Infections were significantly higher in the early dry season compared to the other sub-seasons (t=5.12; df=5; p<0.05; p-value=0.004). Thirty three percent of the 12 villages screened had low prevalence figures (0-20%) while the remaining had high figures up to 40%. From the figures obtained, it appears that infections with trypanosomes are highly prevalent in cattle and sheep in Kaura LGA and may be a serious constraint to profitable livestock production in the area. The need to develop an effective control/eradication programme against the disease to boost the poverty eradication programme of the Federal Government is recommended (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 10: 67 - 72, January 2007)