Small Ruminants Trypanosomosis in Western Gojam Zone of Amhara Regional State, Northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

A cross sectional study in small ruminant trypanosomosis was carried out in Dembecha and Jabitehnan districts of Northwestern Ethiopia to determine prevalence of trypanosomes infection in randomly selected sheep and goats from October 2008 to May 2009. Blood samples were collected from the marginal ear vein of 400 animals (256 sheep and 144 goats), the samples were checked for trypanosomes by Buffy coat –dark ground microscopic technique and Gemsa stain while heamatocrit centrifugation techniques were used to determine packed cell volume (PCV). Out of the examined small ruminants 25(6.3%) were found to be infected with one or more species of trypanosomes. There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in the prevalence of trypanosomosis among small ruminants from different localities. The infection was higher in sheep (7.8%) than goats (3.5%). The overall infection rates for male and female ruminants were 8.9% and 1.9%, respectively, and there was statistically significant difference between two sexes (P<0.05). There was no significance variation in the prevalence of trypanosome infection among the different age groups of small ruminants. T. Congolese was the dominant trypanosome investigated. The mean PCV values of infected sheep and goats were lower than the Mean PCV values of non infected animals. The relatively high infection rates recorded and the low PCV value observed in this study are indicatives of the importance of small ruminant trypanosomosis in the area.