Prevalence of Bovine Trypanosomosis and Farmers’ Perception of the Disease and Its Management in Guangua and Dangila Districts

Abstract

This study was carried out from November 2013 to April 2014 to assess farmers’ perception on the presence, management and the need of intervention programs of bovine trypanosomosis and tsetse fly through a semi-structured questionnaire survey as well as to determine the prevalence of bovine trypanosomosis using a cross-sectional study in Guangua and Dangila Woredas, Northwestern Ethiopia. Blood sample for thin blood smear examination was collected from 384 cattle of all age groups and both sexes. Of the 384 animals examined three animals were found positive for trypanosomosis, overall prevalence of 0.8%. The species of trypanosome identified were two T. vivax and one T. conglonse. The most important livestock constraints considered by farmers in the selected districts were disease (81.2%), improper grazing land management (12.1%) and feed shortage (6.7%). Trypanosomosis was considered the most economically important disease problem for 95% of the respondents.  Of these, 73.3 % of them assumed trypanosomosis as a problem of cattle, equines and small ruminants. Forty percent positive respondents in Dangila and 60% in Guangua appreciated the presence of the problem and the difference between the two groups is statistically significant (P=0.012). Trypanocidal drugs remain the principal method of animal trypanosomosis control. Overall preventive or curative treatments were administered in 40% of the cases by animal health assistant, while for the remaining 60 % was done by farmers themselves. Almost all farmers (100%) did not know the causal association between biting flies and trypanosomosis. As higher proportion of trypanocidal drugs were administered by livestock keepers there may be a development of drug resistance due to misuse of these drugs. Despite the low prevalence detected the study revealed the occurrence of T. vivax and T. congolense. In the study area trypanosomosis is considered as the most important livestock health problem by the majority of the farmers. Therefore, further study is needed on the prevalence of the disease in wet season using more sensitive diagnostic techniques to correlate the difference between the prevalence and the respondents’ perception of bovine trypanosomosis.

Keywords: Selected districts, Prevalence, Farmers’ perception, Trypanosomosis, Bovine