Body Condition Scores as Putative Diagnostic tool for African Animal Trypanosomosis among Ruminants Slaughtered at Kano Central Abattoir

Abstract

Background: The study assesses the carrier status of Trypanosomosis in ruminants brought for slaughter at Kano Central Abattoir between June and November, 2012. Methods: Standard trypanosome detection methods in addition to Body Conditioning Scores (BCS) were used to detect trypanosomes in the blood samples collected randomly at slaughter from 385 ruminants of different sexes and breeds. Packed Cell Volume (PCV) of the animals was also examined. Results: Infection rates of 1.24% and 0.70% occurred in large and small ruminants, respectively, with an overall infection rate of 1.94%. Prevalence in cows (3.17%; p<0.05) exceeded that of bulls (0.056%; p<0.05) with Zebu cows having the highest infection rates (5.13%, p<0.05) followed by Zebu bulls (1.08%, p<0.05) while no trypanosomal infection was detected in the Sokoto Gudali cattle examined. Male sheep had prevalence of 2.04% while female sheep and all the goats examined did not show any trypanosomal infection. Mean PCV of infected cattle and sheep appeared lower (24±0.3, 19±0.1) than the mean PCV of non-infected cattle and sheep (33±0.7, 27±0.3). Single Trypanosoma vivax accounted for the highest infection (0.78%; p<0.05) while mixed infection involving T. congolense and T. vivax accounted for the least (0.26%; p<0.05) infection. Conclusion: The study underscores the role of Body Conditioning Scores as preliminary diagnostic tool for the lucid determination of trypanosomosis in ruminants. The results also, confirmed the prevalence of trypanosomosis in Kano Central Abattoir and could serve as a basis for future researches on animal trypanosomosis in the Abattoir. Key words: Body Condition Scores, Trypanosomosis, Ruminants, Kano, Abattoir.