Trypanosomosis of The Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius) and its Vectors in The Tsetse-free Arid Zone of North Eastern, Nigeria

Abstract

A cross sectional study on trypanosomosis of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromadarius) and its vectors in the tsetse free zone of northeastern Nigeria was undertaken. Out of 410 camels examined during the 12 month study period, 115 were infected. This was made
up of 94(22.42%) males and 21(5.12%) females. This difference was significant (P<0.05). Similarly, infection was significantly higher (P<0.05) in 80(19.51%) young camels (<4 years) than 35(8.54%) adults (>4 years
old). A mixed infection of Trypanosoma evansi 95(82.60%), Trypanosoma vivax 10(8.70%) and Trypanosoma congolense 10(8.70%) were encountered. In decreasing order of sensitivity, the buffy coat
technique detected 60(14.63%), thin blood smears 30(7.32%), wet mount 20(4.88%) and thick blood smears 5(1.22%), the difference being significant (P<0.05). Out of the 4, 600 haematophagus arthropods
vectors (Tabanus, Stomoxys, Hippobosca, Lyperosia) species caught in the area, blue biconical and blue NITSE traps baited with octenol (1-octen-3-ol), phenol (4- methyl phenol) and ox-urine significantly (p<0.05)
caught more arthropod vectors than similarly baited black/grey biconical and black/grey NITSE traps. From the foregoing, the results showed that mixed trypanosome infections occur commonly among camels
in the arid zone of northeastern Nigeria. Secondly, haematophagus arthropods vectors may be involved in the transmission process.