Prevalence and distribution of Trypanosoma evansi in camels in Somaliland
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Prevalence and distribution of Trypanosoma evansi in camels in Somaliland A. A. Salah 1
&
I.D. Robertson 2 & A. SH. Mohamed 3
Received: 7 March 2019 / Accepted: 24 May 2019 # Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract The prevalence and distribution of Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi) infection on camels in Somaliland were studied using the card agglutination test (CATT/T. evansi). A total of 2575 camels were surveyed. The overall animal-level apparent (test) prevalence in Somaliland was 26.4%. The prevalence was highest in the Sahil Region (37.3%) followed by Togdheer (28.4%), Sanaag (27.4%), and Sool (26.2%). There was a significant difference in the seroprevalence between the regions (χ2 = 35.2, df = 1, P < 0.001) with the prevalence being significantly higher in Sahil than in Woqooyi Galbeed and Awdal, respectively. Camels from the eastern districts were two times more likely to be infected than camels from the western districts (P < 0.001). Herds in the coastal area were also more likely to be infected (37.0%) than herds from the inland areas (26.9%).The seroprevalence varied significantly between body condition score groups (P < 0.001) with the highest seroprevalence in camels of poor body condition (39.5%) and the lowest in camels of good body condition (18.4%) score. Animals in poor body condition were almost three times more likely to be positive than animals in good body condition (OR = 2.9; 95% CI 2.2, 3.8). Keywords Trypanosoma evansi . Prevalence . Distribution . Pastoral camel production
Introduction Animal trypanosomosis is the most important parasitic disease of camels in Somaliland and is caused by infection with T. evansi transmitted mechanically by haematophagous biting flies, especially tabanids (Dirie et al. 1989). These biting flies require specific ecological conditions, including suitable vegetation and water points, to survive (Dirie et al. 1989). In Africa, the epidemiology of T. evansi is of particular interest because the disease has a specific spatial distribution being
* A. A. Salah [email protected] 1
Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Hargeisa, Somaliland, Somalia
2
School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
3
Igad Sheikh Technical Veterinary School, Sheikh, Somaliland, Somalia
endemic in arid and semi-arid countries of the Horn of Africa (Dirie et al. 1989; Enwezor and Sackey 2005; Njiru et al. 2004). Furthermore, there are differences in the disease’s occurrence throughout the year with disease appearing more commonly during the rainy seasons when it can be associated with a high number of mortalities in infected camels (Dirie et al. 1989). There are considerable differences in the severity of clinical signs induced by T. evansi in different geographical areas, and these are dependent upon the virulence of the infecting strain and the susceptibility of the host (Herrera et al. 2004). A thorough understanding of the epidemiology of a disease is required before effective disease control programmes can be implemen
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