A comparative study of the diseases in cattle caused by Theileria Lawrencei and Theileria Parva. 1. Clinical signs and parasitological observations

Abstract

A comparison was made between the clinical signs and blood and lymph node parasite levels in cattle reacting to the inoculation of tick-derived stabilates of Theileria lawrencei (TL), and T. parva at high dose (TPH) and low dose (TPL) levels. The TL and TPH infections produced acute diseases with statistically similar tines to death of 13.50 and 14.25 days, respectively, while TPL caused a more protacted but equally fatal disease of 20 days duration. In the TPL group, the local drainage lymph node (LDLN) became enlarged earlier and macroschizonts appeared later than in the TPH group. The characteristics of T. lawrencei infection which differentiated it from T. parva infection were: nervous signs; complete anorexia; low macroschizont index (MSI) levels of up to 5%; and lack of piroplasms. In T. parva groups, the high MSI levels of up to 60%, presence of piroplasms and dysentery were characteristic. In addition, the enlargement of lymph nodes in the TL group persisted to time of death, while in both T. parva infections the initial enlargement was followed by a decrease in size. The 100-fold dose difference between TPH and TPL influenced the times of onset of the majority of clinical signs, most of which occurred later in the TPL group. The MSI levels were 60% in the TPH group and 40% in the TPL group. The piroplasm parasitemia levels reached 5% in the TPH group, and 16% in the TPL group. Theileria lawrencei and T. parva caused diseases with significant differences in clinical manifestations and parasite levels in erythrocytes and lymphocytes. The size of the infecting dose influenced the time of onset of clinical signs as well as the duration of the disease.