title: Survey on Trypanosoma spp. infection of dogs in Gabon and its epidemiological implications for sleeping sickness.
abstract: This survey screened native dogs (Canis familiaris) in Gabon (Africa) for trypanosome infection. A total of 376 apparently healthy dogs, divided into two populations, were examined. The first group included 252 semi-domesticated dogs inhabiting 16 villages of the Ogooué-Ivindo Province, a rural inland area in northeast Gabon, and the second group 124 dogs belonging to protection companies or families from Libreville (n = 113) and Port-Gentil (n = 11), in the coastal area of Gabon. Both study areas include active or former foci of sleeping sickness in Gabon. Molecular testing (polymerase chain reaction) was performed on blood samples from dogs in both groups. All dogs were negative for T. congolense ("savanna type" and "forest type"). Eighteen dogs (4.7%), however, tested positive for T. brucei s.l.: 3% (8/252) were from the Ogooué-Ivindo Province, and 8% (10/124) from the coastal area. These animals may be potential reservoirs of the parasite T. brucei gambiense, responsible for human African trypanosomiasis. This hypothesis, as well as the role of the dog as a sentinel of human infection by T. brucei gambiense, should be investigated in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Service de santé des armées, pôle santé, bientraitance et épidémiologie animale, Direction régionale du Service de santé des armées de Toulon, Toulon, France, Antenne vétérinaire de Brest, site de Mesdoun, avenue de l'École Navale, 29200 Brest, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watier-Grillot
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de recherche et de coordination sur les trypanosomoses, UMR 177, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)-Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad) Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites dans les infections par Trypanosomatidae (Intertryp), Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herder
authors.affiliation: Service de santé des armées, pôle santé, bientraitance et épidémiologie animale, Direction régionale du Service de santé des armées de Toulon, Toulon, France, École du Val-de-Grâce, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Marié
authors.affiliation: Anses, Laboratoire de Ploufragan-Plouzané, Ploufragan, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bourry
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de recherche et de coordination sur les trypanosomoses, UMR 177, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)-Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad) Interactions hôtes-vecteurs-parasites dans les infections par Trypanosomatidae (Intertryp), Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cuny
authors.affiliation: Service de santé des armées, pôle santé, bientraitance et épidémiologie animale, Direction régionale du Service de santé des armées de Toulon, Toulon, France, Unité de recherche sur les maladies infectieuses et tropicales émergentes, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davoust
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D005681:Gabon / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*
keywords: African trypanosomiasis; Dog; Gabon; Trypanosoma brucei s.l; Trypanosoma congolense