Experimental infection of goats with Trypanosoma brucei ssp. and effects of treatment with suramin and Mel-B.

A stock of Trypanosoma brucei ssp. isolated from a naturally-infected goat in the Lambwe Valley, Kenya, induced cerebral trypanosomiasis in experimentally-infected goats. Six of nine goats with cerebral trypanosomiasis induced by this stock were cured by a single high dose of suramin (50 mg kg-1). Two other goats appeared to be cured with this dosage of suramin but later developed abnormal central nervous system (CNS) signs and parasitaemia. Parasites first appeared in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and then in the blood and lymph nodes. Mel-B was also effective against primary and relapse cerebral trypanosomiasis in goats.

Effectiveness of WR 163577 against animal trypanosomes in goats and mice.

A bisquinaldine, 1,6-bis-(6-amino-2-methyl-4-quinolylamino) hexane, was tested against Trypanosoma brucei ssp. in goats and against T. brucei, T. congolense and T. vivax in mice. At doses of 25 and 100 mg kg-1, the drug protected goats for at least 90 days against blood challenge with T. brucei ssp. Fifty to sixty per cent of goats challenged 180 days after treatment were protected, but all goats challenged 270 days after treatment became infected. In mice, bisquinaldine also had a marked effect on T. brucei, but only a minimal effect on T. vivax and no apparent effect on T. congolense. No drug toxicity was noted in mice even at doses of 2000 mg kg-1. Both a short-term (25 and 100 mg kg-1) and long term (100 mg kg-1) toxicity was apparent in goats treated with bisquinaldine.