No abstract

Background: Due to its affordability in disease affected communities and suitability for field application, microscopy has historically been considered the gold standard for field diagnosis of trypanosomosis in rural settings. Aim: This works aims to compare the performance of microscopists on bovine trypanosome microscopy by organizing the first comparative assessment on a correct reading of slides by laboratory professionals using the read slide results and a structured interviewer administered questionnaire in North-central Nigeria. Methods: Ten (10) Participants were addressed, as they were sent a panel of two slides (Slide 1: No Trypanosome present; Slide 2: Trypanosome present) and a questionnaire. Results: All participants greater than 41 years old reported correctly the presence and absence of parasite on slides. Only 3/8 of microscopist from Routine diagnostic laboratory reported correctly the presence of the parasite. Conclusion: Our study confirmed errors in reading slides. Therefore, training of microscopist besides a nationwide quality assessment is recommended.

A cross sectional survey of trypanosomosis of pigs was carried out in three randomly selected Local Government Areas (Nsukka, Udenu and Igbo Eze South) out of the six local government areas in Enugu North Senatorial Zone. Blood samples were randomly collected from a total of 1800 pigs from abattoirs and farms and were examined for trypanosomes parasites using standard parasitological methods: wet film, buffy coat and Giemsa-stained thin smear preparations. A total of 93 (5.2%) pigs were positive overall. Among the positive samples, Trypanosoma brucei was the predominant species (86.0%), followed by T. congolense (13.9%). The different relative isolation rate for Nsukka, Igbo-Eze South and Udenu Local government areas were 14 (4.7%), 14 (4.7%), and 19 (4.0%) respectively in the dry season, and 17 (5.7%), 17 (5.7%) and 12 (6.3%) in the rainy season respectively. The trypanosome prevalence in males from Nsukka, Igbo-Eze South and Udenu local governments were 6.5%, 6.2% and 4.2% respectively, while report in female were 3.8%, 4.1% and 5.9% in the three local governments respectively. There was no significant variations (p<0.05) with seasons, sex and age groups. It was therefore concluded that porcine trypanosomosis is still endemic in Enugu North Senatorial Zone with T. brucei being the most incriminated as the cause of the disease in the zone.