Comparative pathogenicity of three genetically distinct types of Trypanosoma congolense in cattle: clinical observations and haematological changes

Abstract

The pathology of African bovine trypanosomosis was compared in Zebu cattle subcutaneously inoculated with three clones of trypanosomes corresponding to the three genetically distinct types of Trypanosoma congolense; savannah-type, west African riverine/forest-type and kilifi-type. All inoculated animals became parasitaemic between 7 and 11 days post-infection (dpi). The savannah-type showed consistently higher levels of parasitaemia and lower packed red cell volume percentages and leukocyte counts than the other two types. The syndrome was also more severe in the savannah-type and led inexorably to death between 29 and 54 dpi while animals with the forest or the kilifi-types recovered from earlier symptoms and haematological alterations after 3 months of infection. By the end of the experiment, the animals self-cured from the forest-type infection and the kilifi-type passed under control. The results of the present study indicated clear difference in pathogenicity between the three types of T. congolense; the savannah-type was virulent while the forest-type was of low pathogenicity and the kilifi-type was non-pathogenic.