Abstract

A survey was carried out to determine the prevalence of gastro-intestinal nematodes and trypanosome infections and their impact on two indicators of cattle health in the Sudano Sahelian Region of Cameroon in June, 2013. A total of 223 cattle were randomly selected from 24 herds and examined for blood parasite infections (parasitaemia) and for gastrointestinal nematode fecal egg counts. The prevalence of helminth infections was 33.62% (95%CI, 27.43 to 39.83%); three types of helminth eggs identified were Strongyles (96.30%), Toxocara (2.47%) and Eimeria (1.23%). The prevalence of trypanosome infection was 9.86% (95% CI, 5.95 to 13.78%); three species of trypanosomes were identified: Trypanosoma congolense (81.82%), Trypanosoma vivax (13.63%) and Trypanosoma brucei (4.54%). Seven animals were found with concurrent infections. Cattle with concurrent infections had a lower mean Body Condition Score than those with trypanosomes or helminths infections alone. The effect of concurrent infection was equally negative on the Packed Cell Volume of cattle but this effect seems to be caused by trypanosome alone following the practice of drenching by pastoralists.

Key words: Cattle production, helminths, trypanosomes, body condition score (BCS), packed cell volume (PCV), extensive management system, Sudano Sahelian Region, Cameroon.