Domestic pigs as potential reservoirs of human and animal trypanosomiasis in Northern Tanzania.
BACKGROUND
Pig keeping is becoming increasingly common across sub-Saharan Africa. Domestic pigs from the Arusha region of northern Tanzania were screened for trypanosomes using PCR-based methods to examine the role of pigs as a reservoir of human and animal trypanosomiasis.


METHODS
A total of 168 blood samples were obtained from domestic pigs opportunistically sampled across four districts in Tanzania (Babati, Mbulu, Arumeru and Dodoma) during December 2004. A suite of PCR-based methods was used to identify the species and sub-species of trypanosomes including: Internally Transcribed Sequence to identify multiple species; species specific PCR to identify T. brucei s. l. and T. godfreyi and a multiplex PCR reaction to distinguish T. b. rhodesiense from T. brucei s. l.


RESULTS
Of the 168 domestic pigs screened for animal and human infective trypanosome DNA, 28 (16.7%) were infected with one or more species of trypanosome; these included: six pigs infected with Trypanosoma vivax (3.6%); three with Trypanosoma simiae (1.8%); two with Trypanosoma congolense (Forest) (1%) and four with Trypanosoma godfreyi (2.4%). Nineteen pigs were infected with Trypanosoma brucei s. l. (10.1%) of which eight were identified as carrying the human infective sub-species Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (4.8%).


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that in Tanzania domestic pigs may act as a significant reservoir for animal trypanosomiasis including the cattle pathogens T. vivax and T. congolense, the pig pathogen T. simiae, and provide a significant reservoir for T. b. rhodesiense, the causative agent of acute Rhodesian sleeping sickness.
Louise C
LC
Hamill
Magai T
MT
Kaare
Susan C
SC
Welburn
Division of Pathway Medicine and Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK. Kim.Picozzi@ed.ac.uk.
Kim
K
Picozzi
D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000469:parasitology*; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014345:Trypanosoma / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014352:Trypanosomiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary*