Abstract
BackgroundAnimal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is caused by several species of trypanosomes including Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax, T. godfreyi, T. simiae and T. brucei. Two of the subspecies of T. brucei also cause Human African Trypanosomiasis. Although some of them can be mechanically transmitted by biting flies; these trypanosomes are all transmitted by tsetse flies which are the cyclical vectors of Trypanosoma congolense, T. godfreyi, T. simiae and T. brucei. We present here the first report assessing the prevalence of trypanosomes in tsetse flies in Nigeria using molecular tools.Methods488 tsetse flies of three species, Glossina palpalis palpalis, G. tachinoides and G. morsitans submorsitans were collected from Wuya, Niger State and Yankari National Park, Bauchi State in 2012. Trypanosomes were detected and identified using an ITS1 PCR assay on DNA purified from the ‘head plus proboscis’ (H + P) and abdomen (ABD) parts of each fly.ResultsT. vivax and T. congolense Savannah were the major parasites detected. Trypanosomes prevalence was 7.1 % in G. p. palpalis, 11.9 % in G. tachinoides and 13.5 % in G. m. submorsitans. Prevalences of T. congolense Savannah ranged from 2.5 to 6.7 % and of T. vivax were approximately 4.5 %. Trypanosoma congolense Forest, T. godfreyi and T. simiae were also detected in the site of Yankari. The main biological and ecological determinants of trypanosome prevalence were the fly sex, with more trypanosomes found in females than males, and the site, with T. congolense subspp. being more abundant in Yankari than in Wuya. As expected, the trypanosome species diversity was higher in Yankari National Park than in the more agricultural site of Wuya where vertebrate host species diversity is lower.ConclusionsOur results show that T. congolense Savannah and T. vivax are the main species of parasite potentially causing AAT in the two study sites and that Yankari National Park is a potential reservoir of trypanosomes both in terms of parasite abundance and species diversity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1585-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is caused by several species of trypanosomes including Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax, T. godfreyi, T. simiae and T. brucei
All samples that were positive for T. congolense subspp. (PCR product at ~700 bp, n = 26) were screened using subspecies-specific PCR to determine whether the fly was infected by T. congolense Savannah and/or by T. congolense Forest
Trypanosome species diversity seemed higher in Yankari than in Wuya with T. simiae, T. congolense Forest and T. godfreyi detected in Yankari at low prevalence but not detected in Wuya
Summary
Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is caused by several species of trypanosomes including Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax, T. godfreyi, T. simiae and T. brucei. Some of them can be mechanically transmitted by biting flies; these trypanosomes are all transmitted by tsetse flies which are the cyclical vectors of Trypanosoma congolense, T. godfreyi, T. simiae and T. brucei. Tsetse flies are the cyclical vectors of African trypanosomes Many of these trypanosomes are pathogens of humans and livestock, causing human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and animal African trypanosomiasis (AAT), diseases with major medical and economic impact. The evolution of resistances to trypanocidal drugs makes chemotherapy difficult to sustain for the control of AAT [3] For these reasons, vector control remains a very important part of an integrated management of AAT [4]. Tsetse control programs can, for example, focus on localities where a high prevalence of the most virulent pathogens is found and use appropriate technologies depending on the vector species
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