A systematic review of helminth infections of tragelaphine antelopes in Africa

Abstract

The tragelaphine antelopes comprise a group of nine species, namely Tragelaphus eurycerus (bongo), Tragelaphus scriptus (bushbuck), Tragelaphus oryx (common eland), Tragelaphus derbianus (giant eland), Tragelaphus strepsiceros (greater kudu), Tragelaphus imberbis (lesser kudu), Tragelaphus buxtoni (mountain nyala), Tragelaphus angasii (nyala) and Tragelaphus spekii (sitatunga) which are all confined to the African continent. Currently, a total of 72 species of helminth parasites from seven tragelaphine antelope species have been recorded, while no records exist for T. imberbis and T. buxtoni. Some helminth species are shared with domestic stock and only a few helminths have zoonotic implications. The clinical significance of most helminth species in tragelaphine antelopes is unknown. This information was compiled based on an extensive search for records in the literature ranging from the early nineteen-hundreds until August 2019. A synopsis of the results is presented in tabular form.