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Abstract
The pathology of African bovine trypanosomosis was compared in Zebu cattle subcutaneously
inoculated with three clones of trypanosomes corresponding to the three genetically
distinct types of Trypanosoma congolense; savannah-type, west African riverine/forest-type
and kilifi-type. All inoculated animals became parasitaemic between 7 and 11 days
post-infection (dpi). The savannah-type showed consistently higher levels of parasitaemia
and lower packed red cell volume percentages and leukocyte counts than the other two
types. The syndrome was also more severe in the savannah-type and led inexorably to
death between 29 and 54 dpi while animals with the forest or the kilifi-types recovered
from earlier symptoms and haematological alterations after 3 months of infection.
By the end of the experiment, the animals self-cured from the forest-type infection
and the kilifi-type passed under control. The results of the present study indicated
clear difference in pathogenicity between the three types of T. congolense; the savannah-type
was virulent while the forest-type was of low pathogenicity and the kilifi-type was
non-pathogenic.
Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.