Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb
Abstract
Trypanosoma evansi is a protozoan parasite which ubiquitously infects livestock in the Philippines. The study depicts an initial report of livestock trypanosomes in cattle from the province of Quirino, Philippines using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Out of 246 field blood samples from apparently healthy cattle collected from five municipalities of Quirino Province, Philippines, 3/246 (1.22%) were established positive for T. evansi using PCR. The positive animals identified were from the municipality of Saguday (3/42; 7.14% prevalence). These were composed of one female and two males species and belonged to variable age groups (1.1-2 yrs, 2.1-3 yrs and >3 yrs). In addition, the data on the physical examination of the sampled animals using the nine-point scale body condition scoring system showed that the top three body condition scores (BCS) were 3[Very thin, (107/246; 43.50%)], 4[Thin, (75/246; 30.50%)] and 2[Emaciated, (46/246; 18.70%)]. Furthermore, the data showed that majority of the animals in Diffun and Saguday were thin (BCS 4) while
most of the animals in Cabarroguis and Maddela and Aglipay were classified under BCS 3(Very thin) and BCS 2(Emaciated) respectively. Consequently, all the Trypanosoma evansi positive animals appeared thin (BCS= 4) and were from the municipality of Saguday. No parasites were observed after blood parasite examination (BPE). The study provides information on the first report of T. evansi cases in cattle from Quirino Province located
in Region 2 of the Philippines. Consequently the data also presents the first molecular detection of T. evansi infection in cattle in the province of Quirino, Philippines.Trypanosoma evansi posvudašnji je protozoon koji invadira stoku na Filipinima. To je prvo izvješće o tripanosomozi goveda na području Quirino na temelju nalaza dobivenih lančanom reakcijom polimerazom. Ukupno je 246 uzoraka krvi bilo sakupljeno od naizgled zdravih goveda u pet općina na području Quirino. Prisutnost T. evansi dokazana u 3 (1,22%) životinje, u jedne ženke i dva mužjaka različite dobi (1,1-2 godine, 2,1-3 godine i više od 3 godine) u općini Saguday (3/42; prevalencija od 7,14% ). U svih životinja bila je
određena i tjelesna kondicija prema sustavu bodovanja od 1 do 9. Pregledom svih životinja ustanovljena su bila tri najčešća stupnja kondicije: 3 [vrlo mršava, (107/246; 43,50%)], 4 [mršava, (75/246; 30,50%)] i 2 [kahektična, (46/246; 18,70%)]. Goveda na području naselja Diffun i Saguday bila su mršava dok su goveda na području Cabarroguis, Maddela i Aglipay bila vrlo mršava i kahektična. Sve su pozitivne životinje u općini Saguday bile mršave. U goveda pozitivnih lančanom reakcijom polimerazom nisu bili dokazani paraziti u krvi. Rezultati ovog istraživanja predstavljaju i izvješće o prvom dokazu protozoona Trypanosoma evansi na području Quirino na Filipinima
