TITLE:
Epidemiology of Increasing Hemo-Parasite Burden in Ugandan Cattle
AUTHORS:
Keneth Iceland Kasozi, Enoch Matovu, Dickson Stuart Tayebwa, Jemimah Natuhwera, Israel Mugezi, Michael Mahero
KEYWORDS:
Hemo-Protozoan Parasites, Farming Practices, Uganda, Food Security
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Veterinary Medicine,
Vol.4 No.10,
October
20,
2014
ABSTRACT: Hemo-parasites (HP)
are one of the major constraints to the economic development of the livestock industry
in Uganda. Generally, the occurrence and importance of HP is a reflection of complex
interactions involving the causative organisms, tick vectors, the vertebrate hosts
and the environment. We carried out a cross sectional study to identify and determine
the prevalence of the major HPs in Central and Western Uganda, to form a baseline
for appropriate interventions. A total of 295 bovine samples were analyzed from
15 districts of Uganda; 56.3% being from the Central and 43.7% from the Western
region of the country for a period of six months, and a questionnaire was administered
to the farmers. Thin peripheral blood smears stained with Giemsa were used during
the laboratory identification of the parasites. The disease prevalence was established
at 47.4%, 6.7%, 1.9% and 14.4% for Theleria
parva, Babesia spp., Trypanasoma brucei, Anaplasma spp. with a corresponding disease
risk ratio (DRR) of 67.4%, 9.5%, 2.6%, 20.5% respectively in Uganda. The odds of
having an infection from the Central region were 1.7 times greater (P