Cattle Breeding, Trypanosomosis Prevalence and Drug Resistance in Northern Togo (2017)
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Cattle breeding, trypanosomosis prevalence and drug resistance in Northern Togo (2017). Tchamdja E., Kulo A.E., Vitouley H.S., Batawui K., Bankole A.A., Adomefa K., Cecchi G., Hoppenheit A.; Clausen P.H.; De Deken R., Van Den Abbeele J., Marcotty T., Delespaux V. Veterinary Parasitology, 236:86–92. Cattle breeding, trypanosomosis prevalence and drug resistance in Northern Togo E. Tchamdja1, A.E. Kulo2, H.S. Vitouley 3, K. Batawui1, A.A. Bankolé1, K. Adomefa1, G. Cecchi4, A. Hoppenheit5, P. H. Clausen5, R. De Deken6, J. Van Den Abbeele7, T. Marcotty8, V. Delespaux9 * 1 Direction de l’Elevage, BP 4041, Lomé- Togo. 2 Ecole Supérieure d’Agronomie. Université de Lomé. BP 1515, Lomé –Togo. 3 Centre International de Recherche-Développement sur l’Elevage en Zone Subhumide (CIRDES), 01BP454 Bobo Dioulasso 01, Burkina-Faso. 4 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sub- Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 5 Freie Universitaet Berlin, Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Robert-von-Ostertagstr. 7-13, 14163 Berlin, Germany. 6 Institute of Tropical Medicine, Biomedical Sciences Department, Veterinary Entomology, Nationalestraat 155, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium. 7 Institute of Tropical Medicine, Biomedical Sciences Department, Veterinary Protozoology, Nationalestraat 155, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium. 8 Veterinary Epidemiology, Risk-analysis and Diagnosis Research & Development, VERDI - R&D (asbl), Rue du gravier, 7, B-4141 Louveigné, Belgium. 9 Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Pleinlaan 2 B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. *Corresponding author: Tel: +32-2-629 19 52; E-mail: [email protected] The published journal article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2017.02.008 Abstract African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT) is a major disease of cattle in Togo and its control is essentially based on chemotherapy. However, because of excessive use of trypanocides during the past decades, chemo-resistance in the parasites has developed. In order to assess the current situation of AAT and resistance to trypanocidal drugs in Northern Togo, a study was conducted on cattle from December 2012 to August 2013 in the regions of Kara and Savanes. An initial cross-sectional survey was carried out in 40 villages using the Haematocrit Centrifugation Technique (HCT). Out of these, 5 villages with a trypanosome prevalence of > 10% were selected for a block treatment study (BT) with diminazene diaceturate (DA: 3.5 mg / kg for a 14-day follow-up) and isometamidium chloride (ISM: 0.5 mg / kg for a 28-day follow-up). Positive blood samples collected during the parasitological surveys and an equivalent number of negatives were further analyzed by PCR-RFLP for trypanosome species confirmation and molecular diagnosis of resistance to DA in T. congolense. The results from 1,883 bovine blood samples confirmed a high overall trypanosome prevalence of 10.8% in Northern Togo. PCR-RFLP revealed that T. congolense is the dominant pathogenic trypanosome species (50.5%) followed by T. vivax (27.3%), and T. brucei (16.2%). The BT showed varying levels of treatment failures ranging from 0 to 30% and from 0 to 50% for DA and for ISM respectively, suggesting the existence of resistant trypanosome populations in the study area. Our results show that AAT still represents a major obstacle to the development of cattle husbandry in Northern Togo. In areas of high AAT risk, a community-based integrated strategy combining vector control, rational use of trypanocidal drugs and improving the general condition of the animals is recommended to decision makers. 1 Cattle breeding, trypanosomosis prevalence and drug resistance in Northern Togo (2017). Tchamdja E., Kulo A.E., Vitouley H.S., Batawui K., Bankole A.A., Adomefa K., Cecchi G., Hoppenheit A.; Clausen P.H.; De Deken R., Van Den Abbeele J., Marcotty T., Delespaux V. Veterinary Parasitology, 236:86–92. Highlights African Animal Trypanosomosis is highly prevalent in Northern Togo Trypanocidal drug resistance is widespread Community based integrated control strategy is recommended Keywords African Trypanosomosis, chemo-resistance, trypanocides, block treatment, PCR-RFLP, Northern Togo. Introduction In sub-Saharan Africa, African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT) remains one of the main constraints to the development of the livestock sector and of crop-livestock mixed farming. AAT has slowed overall structural development in Africa by preventing growth of human settlements through a lack of suitable animals for transportation and farming (Alsan 2015). Today, more than 55 million head of cattle are at risk of the disease. The trypanosome parasites causing AAT (Trypanosoma congolense, T. vivax, T. brucei brucei) are mainly transmitted by hematophagous tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) that are spread over an area of about 10 million square kilometers (Cecchi and Mattioli 2009). In Togo, AAT is enzootic (Mawuena and Yacnambe 1990; Hendrickx et al. 1999; Dao et al. 2008; Talaki et al. 2014) and interventions against the disease are mainly executed by farmers who rely on trypanocidal drugs, i.e. the curative diminazene diaceturate (DA) and the preventive isometamidium chloride (ISM). Increased development of resistance in the parasites, oftentimes to both trypanocides, was reported in several east- and west-African countries by Delespaux et al. (2008) and Clausen et al. (2010), respectively. In Togo resistance was observed by Vitouley et al. (2013). Another constraint to a successful chemotherapy is the oftentimes insufficient quality of the available trypanocides which has been described for Togo by Tchamdja et al. (2016). Thus, knowledge of such key epidemiological factors as disease prevalence and trypanocidal resistances is needed to develop integrated strategies for communities in areas with high AAT risk (Mungube et al. 2012a; Shaw et al. 2015). Various methodologies for the detection of treatment failures and the diagnosis of resistance to trypanocidal drugs were reviewed by Delespaux et al. (2008). Among these methods, the most commonly used are: (i) follow-up of the persistence of trypanosome infections in animals treated with trypanocidal drugs, called ''block treatment'' (BT) (Eisler et al. 2000; Mungube et al. 2012b); (ii) in vivo standardized drug sensitivity tests on isolated field-strains in mice or cattle (Eisler et al. 2001) and (iii) molecular tools (Delespaux et al. 2008). For detecting resistance, field tests (BT) and laboratory tests (in vivo tests) are based on the detection of trypanosomes after secundum artem administration of a trypanocide, while molecular tools seek to identify genetic markers associated with a phenotype of drug resistance. Currently, markers of resistance are available for DA but up to date no reliable marker has been developed to diagnose ISM-resistance (Mamoudou et al. 2008; Delespaux et al. 2008). 2 Cattle breeding, trypanosomosis prevalence and drug resistance in Northern Togo (2017). Tchamdja E., Kulo A.E., Vitouley H.S., Batawui K., Bankole A.A., Adomefa K., Cecchi G., Hoppenheit A.; Clausen P.H.; De Deken R., Van Den Abbeele J., Marcotty T., Delespaux V. Veterinary Parasitology, 236:86–92. The EU-funded project "Trypanosomosis Rational Chemotherapy" (TRYRAC) was implemented in three African countries (Ethiopia, Mozambique and Togo) with the main objective of improving the livelihoods of low-income farmers through a more efficient use of trypanocides in AAT enzootic areas. As part of the project, the present study was conducted in northern Togo (regions of Kara and Savanes) to generate up-to-date information on the occurrence of AAT in the region, and to fill the knowledge gap on drug use and drug resistance. The study focused on: (i) determining trypanosome prevalence and species through a cross-sectional survey, (ii) assessing the levels of treatment failures to trypanocides by BT in villages with a high AAT prevalence, and (iii) designing and implementing the most adequate strategy to control the disease. Materials and methods Study area The cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2012 to February 2013 in the regions of Kara and Savanes in Northern Togo. The area (20,208 square kilometres) corresponds to 35% of the total surface of the country, and it hosts a large part of the national cattle population (71%, i.e. approximately 150,000 head) (Ministère de l’Agriculture Elevage et Pêche 2013).The two main cattle breeds in the Savanes and Kara regions are the Sahelian zebu and the Somba taurine. Togo has a tropical savannah climate which is characterized by one single rainy season from April to October and a dry season from November to March. AAT is endemic and caused by T. congolense, T. vivax and T. brucei in different proportions depending on the regions. The main vectors of these trypanosomes are Glossina morsitans submorsistans, Glossina palpalis palpalis and Glossina tachinoides (Hendrickx et al. 1999; Dao et al. 2008; Talaki et al. 2014). Based on public domain geospatial databases (Cecchi and Mattioli 2009; Cecchi et al. 2014), aerial maps, field visits, livestock census and expert opinions, 71 villages were initially identified as at-risk for trypanosomosis. Other criteria had to be met as well, including high cattle density, presence of dense vegetation suitable for tsetse (Cecchi et al. 2008), presence of rivers and clinical reports of the disease by veterinarians. Out of the 71 villages, 40 were randomly selected (Figure 1). Cattle herds were identified by drawing data from the local Veterinary Services census. Sampling framework Independently of the size of the herds, 50 cattle were sampled in each of the 40 villages to detect at least one positive, with 90% certainty and assuming the AAT prevalence is more than 5% (Thrusfield 1995). Parasitological analysis: Haematocrit Centrifugation Technique (HCT) Blood was collected from the jugular vein in EDTA BD Vacutainer® tubes (Becton-Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, USA), transferred to capillary tubes and sealed with Cristaseal® (Hawksley, Sussex, UK). Tubes were centrifuged at 13,700 g for 5 minutes. The buffy coat was examined for the presence of trypanosomes as described by Woo (1970).