Authors

Discussion

A cross-sectional survey was carried out to determine the prevalence and molecular identification of trypanosomes in dogs in Enugu North Senatorial Zone (ENSZ), South East Nigeria. Dogs (n = 450) were randomly sampled, their blood collected and some characteristics such as sex, breed, sampling location, season and age duly noted. The blood samples were screened for trypanosomosis using standard trypanosome detection techniques. Trypanosome-positive blood samples were spotted on FTA^® cards for molecular identification using nested Tubulin-PCR, ITS-PCR, TgsGP-PCR and DNA sequencing. Some haematological parameters of the dogs such as packed cell volume (PCV), total leucocyte count (TLC), red blood cell count (RBC) were also determined. Of the 450 dogs sampled, 51 dogs were positive for trypanosomes with a prevalence rate of 11.3% (95% CI = 0.087 - 0.146). Trypanosoma brucei was the predominant trypanosome species infecting dogs in the study area. T. congolense, T. evansi and T. vivax were also identified. The prevalence of canine trypanosomosis was significantly associated with season (χ² = 13.821, df = 1,P = 0.0001) and the sampling location (χ² = 6.900, df = 2,P = 0.032) while sex, breed and age were not. The PCV and RBC of the infected dogs were significantly lower (p < 0.0001) than those of the uninfected dogs. We therefore conclude that CAT due to T. brucei is very prevalent in Enugu North Senatorial Zone, South East Nigeria and is associated with haematological changes. Our study also detected T. vivax in dogs in South East Nigeria which appears to be the first report of T. vivax in a dog in Nigeria.

Keywords: Prevalence; Molecular identification; Canine African trypanosomosis; Trypanosomes; Dogs; South East Nigeria.