PREVALENCE OF BOVINE TRYPANOSOMOSIS AND LOW PCV IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA (original) (raw)

This investigation was conducted in 3 randomly selected Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. In each Area Council, a District and a Village were equally selected randomly. The study was carried out between August, 2010 and July, 2011 to determine the current prevalence rate of bovine trypanosomosis in the study area. Blood samples from cattle were obtained and examined forpresence of trypanosomes mount using wet, thick and thin smear as well as the buffy coat microscopy (BCM) techniques. Packed Cell Volume (PCV) value of each cow was also determined using micro-haematocrit concentration technique (HCT). The mean PCV value (%) of infected and non-infected cattle were significantly (P = 0.1637; P < 0.05) different. Prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis observed across the three Area Councils was found to be 28.33%, consisting of Abaji 28.86%, Bwari 27.86% and Gwagwalada 28.28%. Overall, Trypanosoma congolence were the most predominant (49.41%), followed by T. vivax (36.47%) and then T. brucei (14.11%). Statistically there was significant (P > 0.05) association between the ages of cattle sampled and the prevalence of trypanosome infection. There was no significant relationship(P < 0.05) between trypanosome infection and sex of the sampled cattle. This investigation clearly showed that trypanosomosis is one of the major diseases and a potential threat to health and productivity of cattle in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja-Nigeria.