Haemoparasitic infection in cattle in some pastoral communities in Jos and Bauchi areas of Nigeria

Abstract

Buffy coat haematocrit and microscopic examinations were carried out on 1,040 blood samples of cattle in four high altitude pastoral communities to the north of Jos and south-east of Bauchi. The herds were traditionally raised in hilly, rocky and semi-arid pasture. It was found that parasitaemia occurred in 35.2% of livestock but infection rate was as high as 52.3% in one of the communities. Parasites seen in the blood included Anaplasma marginale (40.7%), Theileria mutans (37.7%), Babesia species (15.3%) and trypanosomes (6.3%), Friesian cattle had higher (P<0.05) infection rates compared to local breed of zebu and carrier animals, which had recovered from disease. Although disease was largely inapparent among most animals it was however concluded that this reservoir of blood parasites had implication for potential epizootics in study areas. An integrated rural control measure was therefore recommended to check infection.

Keywords: cattle, parasitaemia, Nigeria

Nigerian Journal of Parasitology Vol. 25, 2004: 21-24