TITLE:
Effect of a Wildlife-Livestock Interface on the Prevalence of Intra-Erythrocytic Hemoparasites in Cattle
AUTHORS:
Richard M. Kabuusu, Ruth Alexander, Annet M. Kabuusu, Sylvia N. Muwanga, Patrick Atimnedi, Calum Macpherson
KEYWORDS:
Wildlife-Livestock Interface; Geographical Information System; Proximity; Ankole Long-Horned Cattle; Intra-Erythrocytic Hemoparasites
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.3 No.8,
December
9,
2013
ABSTRACT: We conducted a cross-sectional study to establish the
effect of proximity of livestock to a wildlife-livestock interface on the relative
abundance of intra-erythrocytic hemoparasites in cattle. Blood
samples were obtained from 131 randomlyselected cattle raised around Queen Elizabeth National Park. Cattle-farm location was determined by using Global Positioning
System device from an arbitrarily reference point. Giemsa-stained blood smears
were examined microscopically for intra-erythrocytic hemoparasites.
Correlational analysis was used to examine the relationship between farm
location and prevalence, whereas risk ratios were used to determine the
strength of mixed hemoparasitic infections among cattle, using a significant
level of α = 0.05. The
location of a cattle farm significantly predicted the prevalence of Anaplasma
(rs = 0.33, p 0.05) and Theileria (rs = 0.57, p 0.01)
but, farm’s proximity to QENP did not explain the variation in the prevalence
of Babesia (rs = 0.14, p 0.2). Although mixed infections occurred in 15%
of sampled cattle, concurrent infection of cattle with A. marginale and B. bigemina [RR = 36; 95% CI (7.191); p which was
recorded. This study demonstrated that unlike the prevalence of B. bigemina, the prevalence of T. parva and A. marginale in livestock significantly increased with close
proximity to a wildlife-livestock interface.