Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation

Jahashi Nzalawahe; Ayub A. Kassuku; Russell Stothard; Gerald C. Coles; Mark C. Eisler

doi:10.1186/1756-3305-7-107

Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation

Jahashi Nzalawahe, Ayub A. Kassuku, Russell Stothard, Gerald C. Coles, Mark C. Eisler

Tropical Disease Biology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background

The relationship between the environment and infection of cattle with trematodes was studied at Arumeru District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Randomly selected villages were grouped into three cattle management strata, (i) zero-grazing (ZZ) (ii) communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) and (iii) communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI).

Methods

Faecal samples were collected from 241 cattle, and processed using the Flukefinder® method. Snail intermediate hosts were collected with a snail scoop from the water bodies in the study villages and identified morphologically.

Results

The overall prevalence of F. gigantica, paramphistomes and S. bovis were 33%, 37% and 2% respectively. Prevalence for F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis for each stratum were, zero-grazing (ZZ) (29.7%, 36.0% and 0%), communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) (6.3%, 15.0% and 3.8%) and communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI) (57.7%, 56.7% and 1.0%) respectively. The differences between strata were significant for F. gigantica (p < 0.001) and paramphistomes (p < 0.05) but not for S. bovis. Irrigation could account for the high prevalence of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZCI stratum as compared to the ZZ and ZC strata. The higher prevalences of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZZ stratum compared with the ZC stratum were unexpected and attributed to the practice of farmers in some ZZ stratum villages buying fodder for their cattle obtained from pastures in ZCI villages.

Conclusion

Trematode infections in cattle are prevalent in Arumeru District. Fasciola gigantica and paramphistomes are associated with grazing in areas with irrigation of crops. Zero-grazing of cattle does not necessarily prevent the risk of infection.

Original language	English
Article number	107
Pages (from-to)	e107
Journal	Parasites and Vectors
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-7-107
Publication status	Published - 20 Mar 2014

Keywords

Cattle
Fasciola
Food security
Paramphistome
Schistosoma
Sub-Saharan Africa
Trematode

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10.1186/1756-3305-7-107Licence: CC BY

Para Vect 7 107Final published version, 144 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{3327247eccaf4e1cbc2d2bc0e51c208a,

title = "Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation",

abstract = "BackgroundThe relationship between the environment and infection of cattle with trematodes was studied at Arumeru District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Randomly selected villages were grouped into three cattle management strata, (i) zero-grazing (ZZ) (ii) communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) and (iii) communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI).MethodsFaecal samples were collected from 241 cattle, and processed using the Flukefinder{\textregistered} method. Snail intermediate hosts were collected with a snail scoop from the water bodies in the study villages and identified morphologically.ResultsThe overall prevalence of F. gigantica, paramphistomes and S. bovis were 33\%, 37\% and 2\% respectively. Prevalence for F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis for each stratum were, zero-grazing (ZZ) (29.7\%, 36.0\% and 0\%), communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) (6.3\%, 15.0\% and 3.8\%) and communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI) (57.7\%, 56.7\% and 1.0\%) respectively. The differences between strata were significant for F. gigantica (p < 0.001) and paramphistomes (p < 0.05) but not for S. bovis. Irrigation could account for the high prevalence of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZCI stratum as compared to the ZZ and ZC strata. The higher prevalences of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZZ stratum compared with the ZC stratum were unexpected and attributed to the practice of farmers in some ZZ stratum villages buying fodder for their cattle obtained from pastures in ZCI villages.ConclusionTrematode infections in cattle are prevalent in Arumeru District. Fasciola gigantica and paramphistomes are associated with grazing in areas with irrigation of crops. Zero-grazing of cattle does not necessarily prevent the risk of infection.",

keywords = "Cattle, Fasciola, Food security, Paramphistome, Schistosoma, Sub-Saharan Africa, Trematode",

author = "Jahashi Nzalawahe and Kassuku, \{Ayub A.\} and Russell Stothard and Coles, \{Gerald C.\} and Eisler, \{Mark C.\}",

year = "2014",

month = mar,

day = "20",

doi = "10.1186/1756-3305-7-107",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

pages = "e107",

journal = "Parasites and Vectors",

issn = "1756-3305",

publisher = "BioMed Central Ltd",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation

AU - Nzalawahe, Jahashi

AU - Kassuku, Ayub A.

AU - Stothard, Russell

AU - Coles, Gerald C.

AU - Eisler, Mark C.

PY - 2014/3/20

Y1 - 2014/3/20

N2 - BackgroundThe relationship between the environment and infection of cattle with trematodes was studied at Arumeru District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Randomly selected villages were grouped into three cattle management strata, (i) zero-grazing (ZZ) (ii) communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) and (iii) communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI).MethodsFaecal samples were collected from 241 cattle, and processed using the Flukefinder® method. Snail intermediate hosts were collected with a snail scoop from the water bodies in the study villages and identified morphologically.ResultsThe overall prevalence of F. gigantica, paramphistomes and S. bovis were 33%, 37% and 2% respectively. Prevalence for F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis for each stratum were, zero-grazing (ZZ) (29.7%, 36.0% and 0%), communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) (6.3%, 15.0% and 3.8%) and communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI) (57.7%, 56.7% and 1.0%) respectively. The differences between strata were significant for F. gigantica (p < 0.001) and paramphistomes (p < 0.05) but not for S. bovis. Irrigation could account for the high prevalence of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZCI stratum as compared to the ZZ and ZC strata. The higher prevalences of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZZ stratum compared with the ZC stratum were unexpected and attributed to the practice of farmers in some ZZ stratum villages buying fodder for their cattle obtained from pastures in ZCI villages.ConclusionTrematode infections in cattle are prevalent in Arumeru District. Fasciola gigantica and paramphistomes are associated with grazing in areas with irrigation of crops. Zero-grazing of cattle does not necessarily prevent the risk of infection.

AB - BackgroundThe relationship between the environment and infection of cattle with trematodes was studied at Arumeru District, Arusha Region, northern Tanzania. Randomly selected villages were grouped into three cattle management strata, (i) zero-grazing (ZZ) (ii) communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) and (iii) communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI).MethodsFaecal samples were collected from 241 cattle, and processed using the Flukefinder® method. Snail intermediate hosts were collected with a snail scoop from the water bodies in the study villages and identified morphologically.ResultsThe overall prevalence of F. gigantica, paramphistomes and S. bovis were 33%, 37% and 2% respectively. Prevalence for F. gigantica, paramphistomes, and S. bovis for each stratum were, zero-grazing (ZZ) (29.7%, 36.0% and 0%), communal grazing without irrigation (ZC) (6.3%, 15.0% and 3.8%) and communal grazing with irrigation (ZCI) (57.7%, 56.7% and 1.0%) respectively. The differences between strata were significant for F. gigantica (p < 0.001) and paramphistomes (p < 0.05) but not for S. bovis. Irrigation could account for the high prevalence of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZCI stratum as compared to the ZZ and ZC strata. The higher prevalences of F. gigantica and paramphistomes in the ZZ stratum compared with the ZC stratum were unexpected and attributed to the practice of farmers in some ZZ stratum villages buying fodder for their cattle obtained from pastures in ZCI villages.ConclusionTrematode infections in cattle are prevalent in Arumeru District. Fasciola gigantica and paramphistomes are associated with grazing in areas with irrigation of crops. Zero-grazing of cattle does not necessarily prevent the risk of infection.

KW - Cattle

KW - Fasciola

KW - Food security

KW - Paramphistome

KW - Schistosoma

KW - Sub-Saharan Africa

KW - Trematode

U2 - 10.1186/1756-3305-7-107

DO - 10.1186/1756-3305-7-107

M3 - Article

SN - 1756-3305

VL - 7

SP - e107

JO - Parasites and Vectors

JF - Parasites and Vectors

IS - 1

M1 - 107

ER -

Trematode infections in cattle in Arumeru District, Tanzania are associated with irrigation

Abstract

Keywords

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