Zoonotic and Animal Diseases - Trypanosoma
A serious parasitic disease is trypanosomosis, which occurs in large areas of Africa. The most important trypanosomes in terms of economic loss in domestic livestock are the tsetse-transmitted species such as Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax and T. brucei. In Ethiopia mechanically transmitted trypanosomes such as T. evansi, T. vivax and T. equiperdum may also cause major production losses. Chronic trypanosomosis causes a severe reduction in animal productivity reflected in poor growth, low milk yields, reduced capacity as work animals and infertility. The depletion of natural resources and recurrent attacks from drought and famine resulted in a need to resettle 2.2 million people in the areas of the great river basins including the tsetse infested fertile valleys (Gilbe dam). Therefore, an understanding of the epidemiology of trypanosomosis will facilitate the choice of suitable control methods and help in planning development programmes to reclaim tsetse infested fertile land. There are several reports of drug resistance in northwest Ethiopia of T. congolense to both isometamidium and diminazene.
