Social factors affecting seasonal variation in bovine trypanosomiasis on the Jos Plateau, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is a widespread disease of livestock in Nigeria and presents a major constraint to rural economic development. The Jos Plateau was considered free from tsetse flies and the trypanosomes they transmit due to its high altitude and this trypanosomiasis free status attracted large numbers of cattle-keeping pastoralists to the area. The Jos Plateau now plays a major role in the national cattle industry in Nigeria, accommodating approximately 7% of the national herd, supporting 300,000 pastoralists and over one million cattle. During the past two decades tsetse flies have invaded the Jos Plateau and animal trypanosomiasis has become a significant problem for livestock keepers. Here we investigate the epidemiology of trypanosomiasis as a re-emerging disease on the Plateau, examining the social factors that influence prevalence and seasonal variation of bovine trypanosomiasis. METHODS: In 2008 a longitudinal two-stage cluster survey was undertaken on the Jos Plateau. Cattle were sampled in the dry, early wet and late wet seasons. Parasite identification was undertaken using species-specific polymerase chain reactions to determine the prevalence and distribution of bovine trypanosomiasis. Participatory rural appraisal was also conducted to determine knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning animal husbandry and disease control. RESULTS: Significant seasonal variation between the dry season and late wet season was recorded across the Jos Plateau, consistent with expected variation in tsetse populations. However, marked seasonal variations were also observed at village level to create 3 distinct groups: Group 1 in which 50% of villages followed the general pattern of low prevalence in the dry season and high prevalence in the wet season; Group 2 in which 16.7% of villages showed no seasonal variation and Group 3 in which 33.3% of villages showed greater disease prevalence in the dry season than in the wet season. CONCLUSIONS: There was high seasonal variation at the village level determined by management as well as climatic factors. The growing influence of management factors on the epidemiology of trypanosomiasis highlights the impact of recent changes in land use and natural resource competition on animal husbandry decisions in the extensive pastoral production system

A longitudinal survey of African animal trypanosomiasis in domestic cattle on the Jos Plateau, Nigeria:prevalence, distribution and risk factors

BACKGROUND: Trypanosomiasis is a widespread disease of livestock in Nigeria and a major constraint to the rural economy. The Jos Plateau, Nigeria was free from tsetse flies and the trypanosomes they transmit due to its high altitude and the absence of animal trypanosomiasis attracted large numbers of cattle-keeping pastoralists to inhabit the plateau. The Jos Plateau now plays a significant role in the national cattle industry, accommodating approximately 7% of the national herd and supporting 300,000 pastoralists and over one million cattle. However, during the past two decades tsetse flies have invaded the Jos Plateau and animal trypanosomiasis has become a significant problem for livestock keepers. METHODS: In 2008 a longitudinal two-stage cluster survey on the Jos Plateau. Cattle were sampled in the dry, early wet and late wet seasons. Parasite identification was undertaken using species-specific polymerase chain reactions to determine the prevalence and distribution bovine trypanosomiasis. Logistic regression was performed to determine risk factors for disease. RESULTS: The prevalence of bovine trypanosomiasis (Trypanosoma brucei brucei, Trypanosoma congolense savannah, Trypanosoma vivax) across the Jos Plateau was found to be high at 46.8% (39.0 – 54.5%) and significant, seasonal variation was observed between the dry season and the end of the wet season. T. b. brucei was observed at a prevalence of 3.2% (1% – 5.5%); T. congolense at 27.7% (21.8% - 33.6%) and T. vivax at 26.7% (18.2% - 35.3%). High individual variation was observed in trypanosomiasis prevalence between individual villages on the Plateau, ranging from 8.8% to 95.6%. Altitude was found to be a significant risk factor for trypanosomiasis whilst migration also influenced risk for animal trypanosomiasis. CONCLUSIONS: Trypanosomiasis is now endemic on the Jos Plateau showing high prevalence in cattle and is influenced by seasonality, altitude and migration practices. Attempts to successfully control animal trypanosomiasis on the Plateau will need to take into account the large variability in trypanosomiasis infection rates between villages, the influence of land use, and husbandry and management practices of the pastoralists, all of which affect the epidemiology of the disease

A Preliminary Trypanocidal Study of Natural and Synthetic Supplementation of Zinc and Magnesium in Combination with Diminazene Aceturate in Wistar Rats

Eighty healthy Wistar albino rats were used to investigate the trypanocidal effect of natural and synthetic supplements of zinc and magnesium in combination with diminazene aceturate in Trypanosoma congolense-inoculated rats. The rats were randomly divided into eight groups in study ‘1’ (involving the natural supplements of zinc and magnesium) and eight groups in study ‘2’ (the synthetic supplements ZnCl2 and MgCl2), each group of both studies having five rats. Hence, studies 1 and 2 had groupsA - H each. Parasitaemia of trypanosome parasite was assessed using ‘wet mount method’ after inoculation of all test groups except group ‘G’ of both studies (the normal, not infected, not treated control). Group ‘E’ of both studies in which combinations of natural source of zinc ion (maize bran) and magnesium ion (wheat bran) were combined with subtherapeutic dose of diminazene aceturate at 1.75 mg/kg cleared the trypanosome parasites with no relapse. The salts supplements of ZnCl2 and MgCl2 with the same subtherapeutic dose of diminazene aceturate also elicited an effect similar to the group ‘E’ in natural supplementation study. There was thus, no significant difference (p>0.05) between the PCV and RBC of normal group ‘G’ and the natural and synthetic supplemented groups with the trypanocide. The groups B, C, and D of both studies however, onlyprolonged the live of the animals (though with relapse occurring) there was still the death of the animals before the end of the experiment. The improvement of PCV and RBC values of treated groups ‘E’ in the two studies towards the normal gave credence to the fact that the supplements of Zn2+ and Mg2+ with the subtherapeutic dose of 1.75 mg/kg had a better trypanocidal and rejuvenating tendency and could be used for treatment

Effects of oral administration of aqueous stem extract of Jatropha gossypiifolia on weight-gain and some haematological parameters in rats

The aqueous stem extract of Jatropha gossypiifolia var. gossypiifolia was obtained and reconstituted daily and orally administered to animal according to weights. In acute toxicity study, a single oral dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight was administered and toxic signs and behaviour were observed and the weight, monitored for 14 days. In repeated dose, test extract was administered daily for 28 days at various doses of 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg, 750 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg respectively. The packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell count (RBC), differential leucocyte counts. total white blood cell count (WBC), Haemoglobin concentration (Hb), and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) plasma proteins, plasma bilirubin, albumin, liver enzymes such as aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), plasma electrocytes (Na , K , Cl and urea) of the rats were determined on days 14 and 28. While the weight of the rats + + -were simultaneously monitored in both set of the experiments. There were no significant changes in the PCV, RBC, Hb and MCHC, while significant increase (