Study on the prevalence of donkey trypanosomosis in Awi zone northwest Ethiopia

The study on trypanosomosis of donkeys was conducted from October 2009 to March 2010 in four districts of Awi zone including Jawi district of tsetse infested, Abadera and Chara districts found at the edge of tsetse infested area and Dangla of tsetse free district. A total of 384 randomly selected donkeys (86 from Abadera, 87 from Chara, 94 from Dangla and 117 from Jawi) were sampled and examined using haematocrit centrifugation technique. The overall prevalence of trypanosomosis of donkeys was 1.6% (n=6). The observed prevalence was not significantly (P > 0.05) different among the four districts. Trypanosoma vivax (75%) and Trypanosoma congolense (25%) were the most common trypanosome species encountered during the study period. No significance difference was observed between male and female donkeys both in prevalence of infection and mean PCV (P > 0.05). The mean PCV of infected donkey (23.50 ± 3.782) was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that of non infected donkeys (34.70 ± 4.44). The body condition score of the donkey was significantly associated with both prevalence of infection and mean PCV (P < 0.05). The study revealed that trypanosomosis in donkeys in the study areas indicates the presence of both cyclical and non-cyclical transmitted trypanosomes which require inclusion of equines in the control program of trypanosomosis in the study areas.