Prevalence of blood and skin trypanosomes in domestic and wild fauna from two sleeping sickness foci in Southern Cameroon

3Citations
Citations of this article
17Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Although studies on African Trypanosomiases revealed a variety of trypanosome species in the blood of various animal taxa, animal reservoirs of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense and anatomical niches such as skin have been overlooked in most epidemiological settings. This study aims to update epidemiological data on trypanosome infections in animals from human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) foci of Cameroon. Blood and skin snips were collected from 291 domestic and wild animals. DNA was extracted from blood and skin snips and molecular approaches were used to identify different trypanosomes species. Immuno-histochemical analyses were used to confirm trypanosome infections in skin snips. PCR revealed 137 animals (47.1%) with at least one trypanosome species in the blood and/or in the skin. Of these 137 animals, 90 (65.7%) and 32 (23.4%) had trypanosome infections respectively in the blood and skin. Fifteen (10.9%) animals had trypanosome infections in both blood and skin snip. Animals from the Campo HAT focus (55.0%) were significantly (X2 = 17.6; P< 0.0001) more infected than those (29.7%) from Bipindi. Trypanosomes of the subgenus Trypanozoon were present in 27.8% of animals while T. vivax, T. congolense forest type and savannah type were detected in 16.5%, 10.3% and 1.4% of animals respec-tively. Trypanosoma b. gambiense infections were detected in the blood of 7.6% (22/291) of animals. No T. b. gambiense infection was detected in skin. This study highlights the presence of several trypanosome species in the blood and skin of various wild and domestic ani-mals. Skin appeared as an anatomical reservoir for trypanosomes in animals. Despite methodological limitations, pigs, sheep, goats and wild animals were confirmed as potential reservoirs of T. b. gambiense. These animal reservoirs must be considered for the designing of control strategies that will lead to sustainable elimination of HAT.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Magang, E. M. K., Kamga, R. M. N., Telleria, J., Tichit, M., Crouzols, A., Kaboré, J., … Simoid, G. (2023). Prevalence of blood and skin trypanosomes in domestic and wild fauna from two sleeping sickness foci in Southern Cameroon. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 17(7 July). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011528

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free