Evaluation of the pathogenicity in goats of Trypanosoma Congolense from Matutuine, Mozambique

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the impact of infections with Trypanosoma congolense on various variables (including hematological and biochemical parameters) of South African Boer goats kept on various planes of nutrition. Sixteen goats with eight months old divided into four groups and weighing on average 12 kg were used in the experiments. Two groups (of four goats each) were infected with a T. congolense isolated in the Matutuine District of Mozambique. One group (of four goats) was kept on a low energy budget (9.72 MJ of metabolizable energy per kg and 0.16 kg of digestible protein per kg) whereas another group (of four goats) was kept on a high-energy budget (9.72 MJ of metabolizable energy per kg and 0.09 kg of digestible protein per kg). Two uninfected control groups kept on a low or high-energy budget were included in the experiment. In each of the experimental groups, the parasitemia, packed cell volume (PCV), the hemoglobin level, the red blood cell count ( RBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), the total serum protein level (TSP), the total bilirubin level, the serum aspartate aminotransferase level (AST), the inorganic phosphate level (SIP), the serum gama glutamyltransferase level (GGT), the serum urea level, the creatinin and the creatin kinase ( CK) levels, the body temperature and weighs were monitored and compared during the pre-patent from day -13 to 7 and during the chronic one from day 22 to 56. The first peak of parasitemia occurred earlier in infected goats kept on a low energy diet. Throughout the observation period, infection with T. congolense and diet had no significant effects on body weight. On the other hand, PCV, RBC counts reduced in both groups of infected goats. The pre-infection phase urea levels were higher in the animals (infected and control) kept on a high-energy diet. No significant changes were observed in the plasma of Albumin, AST, Creatinin, GGT, Globulin, SIP and TSP levels as a result of diet and/or infection with T. congolense. These results suggest that the infection with the Mozambican isolate of T. congolense, which was used in this study, induces a mild infection with no or minimal effect on the health goats even when kept on a low energy plane of nutrition.