Prevalence of domestic animal trypanosomiasis in the Fontem sleeping sickness focus, Cameroon

Abstract

Three hundred-forteen domestic animals: 114 goats, 93 sheep, 67 dogs and 30 pigs in the Fontem sleeping sickness focus (Cameroon) were screened for infection with trypanosomes using parasitological and serological tests. Nannomonas was the only sub-genus detected in the animals with a prevalence of 28.3 %. The card agglutination test (Testryp CATT) for trypanosomiasis showed a positivity rate of 38.2 %, indicating that it allowed a better estimation of animal trypanosomiasis. The absence of trypanosomes of the sub-genus Trypanozoon seems to indicate that human African trypanosomiasis is not a zoonosis in this sleeping sickness focus.