Abstract:
Theileria parva, the most important bovine theilerial species in sub-Saharan Africa, causes
widespread mortality and morbidity in endemic areas. A survey was conducted using
buffy-coat specimens from 60 apparently healthy adult communally herded Nguni-type
cattle at the northeastern edge of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park to determine, by means of
PCR and Reverse Line Blot (RLB) hybridisation, the occurrence of Theileria and Babesia
species. The presence of Trypanosoma species was determined using PCR-RFLP. Results
showed that 6.7%of the specimens were positive for Theileria parva. This significant finding
suggests that cattle in South Africa, and not only African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), may be
subclinical carriers of T. parva. Other species identified were T. mutans (83.3 %), T. velifera
(70.0 %), Theileria sp. (sable) (46.8 %) and T. taurotragi (1.7 %). Two specimens (3.3 %) were
positive for Babesia bovis and single specimens (1.7 %) positive for B.bigemina and B. rossi,
respectively. Mixed infections, of up to 4 species, were common (65.0 %). Only 1 specimen
was found to be positive for Trypanosoma vivax, and 2 for T. theileri, of which only the first
species is pathogenic.