Preliminary Studies on Prevalence of Ruminant Trypanosomosis in Ogbomoso Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

2 Abstract: This study investigated the prevalence of ruminant trypanosomosis in five local government areas of Ogbomoso in Oyo State, Nigeria. The animals investigated were West African Dwarf sheep, goats and cattle. The investigation started from November 2005 to October 2006 involving both rainy (May-Oct) and dry season (Nov-April) in all the five local government. The trypanosomes from the peripheral blood of animals were detected by wet blood film and stained thin film examination while haematocrit centrifugation technique was used to determine the packed cell volume (PCV). The total sum of 2080 (940 sheep, 675 goats and 465 cattle) animals were examined. The results of the investigation showed that 87 animals were infected with the Trypanosomes giving a prevalence rate of 4.1% in ruminants. Trypanosoma congolense was incriminated for all the infection. The prevalence rate in sheep, goats and cattle was 4.7%,3.5% and 3.9% respectively and the infection was at P<0.05 in dry season in sheep, goats and cattle than in the rainy season. This confirmed ruminant trypanosomosis is important in the study area.