Appraisal of the status of bovine trypanosomiasis around the summit areas of the Jos Plateau, Nigeria

A parasitological survey of blood samples of 200 calves, yearlings and adults of zebu cattle for infecting Trypanosoma species, the causative agents of bovine trypanosomiasis in Jos, Babale and Federe areas revealed an overall percentage infection of 7.5%. Thin film technique and haematocrit centrifugation diagnostic methods were used. Three Trypanosoma species namely T. Brucei, T. Vivax,, and T. Congolense were identified. Di.fferences in infection were not indicated between yearlings and calves (X2 = 0.389, P>O. 05), but between adults and claves, the pattern of infection was significant (X2 = 6.394, P>0.05) for the sam-ples taken from Babale. Males from Nara'guta and Federe were significantly (P<0.05) more parasititized than the males, while at Jos,females were the sole carriers of the infections. Our findings show a recrudescence of bovine trypanosomiasis and a gradual build up of the infection over a ten-year period since the last outbreak and control of the disease on the Plateau. More studies to cover a wider of the Plateau are now required to determine the spread and pattern of the disease, as well as the apparent variation in the prevalence rates observed between the sexes. A study of the species composition of the vectors and population dynamics in relation to the transmission ofbavine trypanosomiasis on the Plateau is also advocated