Molecular Survey of Trypanosoma congolense “Forest-Type” in Nigerian Cattle

African animal trypanosomosis is an important livestock disease in Nigeria which is considered as a threat to the on-going effort on poverty alleviation in the continent. The disease is caused by several Trypanosoma species which are protozoan parasites transmitted by tsetse. Trypanosomosis is characterized by tissue injury including overwhelming activation of Classical Myeloid cells that results in destruction of the liver and uncontrolled parasite growth. Reduction in production and sometimes death are disease sequella. Hence, proper surveillance of the disease using a sensitive tool is very necessary for monitoring and control of trypanosomosis. Therefore this study concentrated on providing knowledge on the true infection rate of Trypanosoma congolense “forest type” and its effect on body weight and haematological parameters. Blood sample was collected from 180 cattle, DNA was extracted and PCR technique was adopted for prevalence study. Haematological analysis was carried out using Auto-haemo-analyser. Data generated were analysed using SAS statistical package. A prevalence rate of 91.67% was recorded. There were significant (p<0.05) differences between Body-weight, Red Blood Cell count, Mean Corpuscular Volume and Monocyte number of infected and un-infected cattle. The haematology reveals that hosts were able to respond to anaemia compensatorily as perceived in the macro-cytic, normo-chromic status of the peripheral blood erythrocytic generation. The study concluded that the true prevalence of trypanosome infection is high and has both epidemiological and economic importance. This study `provides information that could facilitate future monitoring and control of the disease in the study area.