ABSTRACT
Such as been shown to affect different animal hosts in different parts of the world; although it is; naturally; a disease of camels and equines. It is; commonly; a chronic wasting disease that may eventually lead to death in the untreated animal. Studies on the pathology of Trypanosoma evansi are not many. However; Verma and Gautam (1979) and Raisinghani et al. (1980) have shown that T. evansi is equally pathogenic to cattle as it is in the camels in India. An investigation was instituted to study the pathology of T. evansi in experimental infected rabbits. Groups of rabbits were intravenously infected with various strains of T.evansi and the animals checked daily for parasitaemia and once weekly; they were bled for serum and packed cell volume (PVC). During the seven-week experimental period; the rabbits were also observed for any other ailments that developed. The infected animal displayed a gradual drop in the PCV ranging between 30 and 50 percent although parasitaemia was scanty and relapsing in nature. Most of the developed ocular and skin conditions were quite prominent in comparison with their normal control group kept under similar conditons. At postmorten; the lungs appeared haemorrhagic and consolidated in some areas. The kidneys; liver and spleen were grossly enlarged and hyperaemic. The heart was glabby with increased straw-coloured fluid in the pericardial sac. Microscopically; the main lesions in most of the tissues and organs was haemorrhage and cellular degeneration. The lungs had evidence of pneumonia while the lymphoid tissues showed increased cellular activity. Despite the presence of trypanosomes in the cerebrospinal fluid of all the infected rabbits; there was no evidence of central nervous system involvement in this study