Parasitological and molecular detection of Trypanosoma spp. in cattle, goats and sheep in Somalia

Abstract

African animal trypanosomiasis (AAT) affects the livestock of 12.3 million Somalis and constrains their development and wellbeing. There is missing data on AAT in the country after the civil war of the 1990s. Therefore, this study has aimed to assess the prevalence of Trypanosoma spp. in 614 blood samples from cattle (n = 202), goats (n = 206) and sheep (n = 206) in Afgoye and Jowhar districts, Somalia using parasitological and molecular methods. Twenty-one out of 614 (3.4%; 95% CI: 2.1–5.2%) and 101/614 (16.4%; 95% CI: 13.6–19.6%) ruminants were positive for Trypanosoma spp. by buffy coat technique (BCT) and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Using ITS1-PCR, the highest prevalence was observed in cattle (23.8%; 95% CI: 18.4–30.1%) followed by goats (17.5%; 95% CI: 12.9–23.3%) and sheep (8.3%; 95% CI: 5.1–12.9%). A total of 74/101 (73.3%; 95% CI: 63.5–81.6%) ruminants were shown coinfection with at least two Trypanosome species. The four T. brucei-positive samples have tested negative for T. b. rhodesiense, by the human-serum-resistance-associated-PCR. Trypanosoma evansi, T. godfreyi, T. vivax, T. brucei, T. simiae and T. congolense were the Trypanosoma species found in this study. This is the first study on the molecular detection of Trypanosoma sp. in ruminants in Somalia. Further investigations and control measures are needed to manage Trypanosomiasis spreading in the country. Studies should also focus on the detection of T. b. rhodesiense in the country.

The detection of African trypanosomes in goats reared in tsetse infested villages of Eastern Zambia

“…Filter paper, however, inhibits ITS-PCR, making it less accurate compared to when DNA is extracted directly from whole blood samples (Ahmed et al, 2013 ). The frequency in trypanosome species, T. congolense and T. vivax distribution were similar with other findings (Kebede et al, 2009 ; Von Wissmann et al, 2011 ; Maganga et al, 2020 ), where goats were found to be highly prevalent in T. vivax as compared to cattle which is highly prevalent in T. congolense (Hassan-Kadle et al, 2020 ; Mulenga et al, 2021 ). In livestock, T. congolense and T. vivax are the most prevalent under natural infections, while T. brucei is the least prevalent (Van den Bossche and Delespaux, 2011 ; Maganga et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Despite our study reporting no cases of T. brucei from the goats sampled, indicating that T. brucei was not circulating in the goats sampled. Our findings were consistent with observations made by Kebede et al ( 2009 ) and Van den Bossche et al ( 2010 ), but disagreed with findings from other studies where T. brucei was found to be highly prevalent (Von Wissmann et al, 2011 ; Hassan-Kadle et al, 2020 ). The absence of T. brucei in our study may have been attributed to the inability of the sample collection technique i.e., filter paper, to preserve enough DNA to be detected by PCR.…”

One Health in Somalia: Present status, opportunities, and challenges

“…In parallel, multiple meetings and webinars have been organized to raise awareness about the importance of OH in the country. Our research efforts have resulted in several notable scientific publications on zoonotic diseases, including the first molecular investigations of animal trypanosomiasis in Somalia [ 19 , 20 ]. Data provided by our studies on brucellosis and toxoplasmosis in pregnant women emphasized the significance of understanding zoonotic abortifacient pathogens in the Somali community [ 21 ].…”

Bartonella species in dromedaries and ruminants from Lower Shabelle and Benadir regions, Somalia

“…The prevalence of zoonotic diseases such as brucellosis, Rift Valley fever (RVF), Q fever, and toxoplasmosis is a pressing concern in Somalia, contributing significantly to public health risks and economic burdens (Frangoulidis et al., 2021; Hassan‐Kadle et al., 2019, 2020, 2021; Yusuf et al., 2021). However, to the best of our knowledge, the presence of Bartonella spp.…”