ABSTRACT
Ninety-three (93) horses were investigated for serum antibodies to Theileria equi (T. equi) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi) using the immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Seventy-seven (82.8%) horses were seropositive; 31 (33.3%) were positive to T. equi compared to 64 (68.8%) to B. caballi while 18 (19.4%) horses were seropositive to both parasites. No significant differences in antibody frequencies among females and males for either T. equi or B. caballi were noted. Differences in seropositivity to B. caballi among age groups were not significant. Antibodies to T. equi were more frequent than to B.caballi in the age group 5 years and over than in the 1-2 and 2-4 years age groups (p<0.05). Unlike T. equi antibodies, B. caballi antibodies in horses in the county of Caroni were significantly less frequent when compared to other counties (p<0.05). Of 18 (19.4%) clinically ill horses, seven (42.9%) had clinicopathological evidence of anemia. Only one-third (6 of 18) horses were positive for the parasite on Wright-Giemsa stained blood smears and anemia was present in only 2. We report here that B. caballi and not T. equi may be the more common agent of piroplasmosis in Trinidad.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Protozoan/blood , Babesia/immunology , Babesiosis/veterinary , Horse Diseases/epidemiology , Theileria/immunology , Theileriasis/epidemiology , Age Factors , Animals , Babesiosis/epidemiology , Female , Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect/methods , Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect/veterinary , Horses , Male , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Sex Factors , Trinidad and Tobago/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Canine histoplasmosis was first reported in Trinidad in 1990 (Vet. Diag. Lab: Ann Report). It involved a case of disseminated histoplasmosis in a 5 year-old male Doberman from north-eastern Trinidad. Subsequently, five cases, all classified as the disseminated form of the disease, have been diagnosed in dogs of different breeds, mainly from the northern part of the island. The aetiological agent is a dimorphic fungus, Histoplasma capsulatum which occurs as a yeast in the parasitic phase, but exists as a filamentous mycelin producing microconidia and macroconidia in the saprophytic phase. Histoplasmosis is a zoonosis and has a world-wide distribution. Although in man most cases are asymptomatic, severe illness and death can occur (AU).
