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Prevalence and risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection in cattle in three regions of Tanzania

Tropical Animal Health and Production volume 49, pages 1613–1621 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Ticks and tickborne diseases (TBDs) are serious constraints to cattle production in Tanzania and other tropical and subtropical countries. Among the TBDs, East Coast fever (ECF) is the most important as it causes significant economic losses to the cattle industry in Tanzania. However, control of ECF in Tanzania has continued to be a challenge due to inadequate epidemiological information. The main objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological situation of Theileria parva infections in cattle kept under pastoral and agro-pastoral farming systems in Mara, Singida, and Mbeya regions of Tanzania. Blood samples were collected from 648 cattle in the three regions. Genomic DNA was extracted and amplified in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using T. parva-specific primers targeting the 104-kD antigen (P104) gene. In addition, information was collected on the possible risk factors of T. parva infection (animal age, region, animal sex, tick burden, tick control method, and frequency of acaricide application). The prevalence of T. parva across the three regions was 14.2%. There was variation in prevalence among the three regions with Mara (21.8%) having a significantly higher (p = 0.001) prevalence than the other regions. Moreover, Mbeya exhibited relatively lower prevalence (7.4%) compared to the other regions. Factors found to be significantly associated with an animal being PCR positive for T. parva were region (p = 0.001) and tick burden (p = 0.003). Other factors were not found to be significant predictors of being PCR positive for T. parva. The present study showed high variation in tick burden and T. parva prevalence across the regions. Therefore, different strategic planning and cost-effective control measures for ticks and T. parva infection should be implemented region by region in order to reduce losses caused by ticks and ECF in the study area.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the support from local government authorities as well as village extension officers for their assistance during sample collection. We are very grateful to livestock farmers for their support and allowing us to use their cattle during the entire period of sample collection. We also thank Miss Yvette E.M Kazungu, Mr. Joseph Ndebe, Mr. Ladslav Monga, and Mr. Penjaninge Kapila for the laboratory technical assistance. This study was funded by the INTRA-ACP Academic Mobility Scheme supported by the European Union (agreement no. 2012-3166/001-001) and the program for Enhancing Pro-poor Innovation in Natural Resources and Agricultural Value Chains (EPINAV) at the Sokoine University of Agriculture which is supported by the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD). IIK was sponsored by the Intra-ACP Mobility Scheme for his PhD studies at the University of Zambia.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia

    Isack I. Kerario & Martin C. Simuunza

  2. Department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range Sciences, College of Agriculture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3004, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Sebastian W. Chenyambuga

  3. National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Section for Ocean Ecology and Climate, Technical University of Denmark, Kavalergården 6, 2920, Charlottenlund, Denmark

    Marja Koski

  4. Laboratory of applied Biochemistry (J-304), Department of Animal Life and Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hankyong National University, 327 Jungang-ro, Anseong-si, Gyeongi-do, 456-749, South Korea

    Seong-Gu Hwang

  5. Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, P.O. Box 32379, Lusaka, Zambia

    Walter Muleya

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  1. Isack I. Kerario
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  2. Martin C. Simuunza
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  3. Sebastian W. Chenyambuga
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Correspondence to Isack I. Kerario.

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Kerario, I.I., Simuunza, M.C., Chenyambuga, S.W. et al. Prevalence and risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection in cattle in three regions of Tanzania. Trop Anim Health Prod 49, 1613–1621 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1367-8

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Keywords

  • East Coast fever
  • Theileria parva
  • Tickborne diseases
  • Risk factors
  • Cattle