Seasonal Variation and the Effect of Land use patterns and on the epidemiology of Trypanosomiasis in a previously tsetse free area - the Jos Plateau, Nigeria
Abstract
A longitudinal cluster survey was carried out in 2008 to determine the prevalence of trypanosomiasis in cattle from a previously tsetse free area (the Jos Plateau, Nigeria) using a suite of state of the art molecular tools. Study sites were selected by drawing a grid over the area and selecting one village per cell. 80 cows were randomly selected for sampling from individual herds within selected villages during the dry season, early wet season and late wet season to enable assessment of seasonal variations. Blood was collected and evaluated by molecular genetics diagnosis, Results after using the diagnostic techniques showed that trypanosome infections were detected at 46.4% prevalence representing 3314 infected animals out of 7148 sampled. Of these 3314 (59%) were Trypanosoma congolense, 56% were T. vivax and 3% T. brucei brucei and 21% were mixed infections. Looking at the village level data, three different patterns of seasonal variation were observed, in group 1 the prevalence of trypanosomiasis is lowest in the dry season and increases significantly in the wet season, for group 2 the prevalence of trypanosomiasis remains at a constant level all year round and in group 3 the prevalence of trypanosomiasis is highest in the dry season, decreases as the wet season begins and increases again towards the end of the wet season.
Citation
Majekodunmi, A.; Picozzi, K.; Thrusfield, M.; Fajinmi, A.; Welburn, S. Seasonal Variation and the Effect of Land use patterns and on the epidemiology of Trypanosomiasis in a previously tsetse free area - the Jos Plateau, Nigeria. Presented at 13th Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (AITVM) Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 23-26 August 2010. (2010)
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