ABSTRACT
In order to better understand the epidemiology of Human and Animal trypanosomiasis that occur together in sleeping sickness foci, a study of prevalences of animal parasites (Trypanosoma vivax, T. congolense "forest type", and T. simiae) infections was conducted on domestic animals to complete the previous work carried on T. brucei gambiense prevalence using the same animal sample. 875 domestic animals, including 307 pigs, 264 goats, 267 sheep and 37 dogs were sampled in the sleeping sickness foci of Bipindi, Campo, Doumé and Fontem in Cameroon. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based method was used to identify these trypanosome species. A total of 237 (27.08%) domestic animals were infected by at least one trypanosome species. The prevalence of T. vivax, T. congolense "forest type" and T. simiae were 20.91%, 11.42% and 0.34% respectively. The prevalences of 7 vivax and T. congolense "forest type" differed significantly between the animal species and between the foci (p < 0.0001); however, these two trypanosomes were found in all animal species as well as in all the foci subjected to the study. The high prevalences of 7 vivax and T congolense "forest type" in Bipindi and Fontem-Center indicate their intense transmission in these foci.
Subject(s)
Animals, Domestic/parasitology , Trypanosoma congolense/isolation & purification , Trypanosoma vivax/isolation & purification , Trypanosomiasis, African/veterinary , Animals , Cameroon/epidemiology , DNA, Protozoan/isolation & purification , Dog Diseases/epidemiology , Dog Diseases/parasitology , Dog Diseases/transmission , Dogs , Electrophoresis, Agar Gel , Goat Diseases/epidemiology , Goat Diseases/parasitology , Goat Diseases/transmission , Goats , Humans , Prevalence , Sheep , Sheep Diseases/epidemiology , Sheep Diseases/parasitology , Sheep Diseases/transmission , Swine , Swine Diseases/epidemiology , Swine Diseases/parasitology , Swine Diseases/transmission , Trees , Trypanosoma/classification , Trypanosoma/genetics , Trypanosoma/isolation & purification , Trypanosoma congolense/genetics , Trypanosoma vivax/genetics , Trypanosomiasis, African/epidemiology , Trypanosomiasis, African/transmissionABSTRACT
An explanation of the endemic nature and/or the resurgence of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) in the historic foci in West and Central Africa may be the existence of an animal reservoir. In some HAT foci, pigs were found infected by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense but the implication of the other domestic animals was not quite evaluated. This study aims to determine the prevalence of T. b. gambiense in domestic animal species (goat, sheep, pig and dog) commonly found in the four active HAT foci in Cameroon (Bipindi, Fontem, Campo and Doumé). Blood samples were collected from 307 pigs, 264 goats, 267 sheep and 37 dogs and used for parasitological (QBC), immunological (LiTat 1.3 CATT) and molecular (PCR) analyses. QBC detected trypanosomes in 3.88% domestic animals while 22.7% were sero-positive with LiTat 1.3 CATT tests. Of the 875 animals analysed, 174 (19.88%) harboured T. brucei s.l. DNA, found in each of the four types of animal and in the four localities. The infection rate significantly differed among the animal species (p < 0.0001) and localities (p < 0.0001). The PCR also revealed T. b. gambiense group 1 DNA in 27 (3.08 %) domestic animals. The specific infection rates were as follows: sheep (6.74%), goats (3.08%), pigs (0.32%) and dogs (O%). T. b. gambiense was found in 8 (3.92%) animals from Bipindi, 15 (4.83%) from Campo, 4 (2.59%) from FontemCenter and none from Doumé. The infection rates significantly differed between the localities, and correlated with the intensity of HAT transmission in the foci.
