Susceptibility of buffaloes, cattle and goats to infection with different stocks of Trypanosoma vivax transmitted by Glossina morsitans centralis

A comparison was made of the susceptibility of buffaloes, cattle and goats to infection with Trypanosoma vivax transmitted either by Glossina morsitans centralis or by syringe inoculation. Three different isolates of T vivax (two from East Africa, one from West Africa) were used to compare skin reactions, parasitaemia, anaemia and the development of trypanosome-specific antibodies in buffaloes, cattle and goats. African buffaloes reared in captivity in an area free from trypanosomiasis proved to be highly resistant to infection with the three stocks of T vivax tested, irrespective of whether infection was by tsetse transmitted metacyclic forms or by intradermal or intravenous inoculation of bloodstream forms of the parasite. The bites of 19 tsetse infected with a West African T vivax stock did not cause local skin reactions, detectable bloodstream infections or antibody responses in two buffaloes. Following the bites of 120 tsetse flies infected with the same stock, two different buffaloes showed no local skin reactions, but had detectable bloodstream infections without showing signs of anaemia. Cattle and goats infected in a similar way showed severe local inflammatory skin reactions, high levels of parasitaemia and severe anaemia. The two East African stocks of T vivax caused no local skin reactions and only a transient parasitaemia in buffaloes following tsetse-transmitted infection or intradermal inoculation of bloodstream forms. On the other hand, cattle and goats infected with the East African stocks showed high parasitaemias but local skin reactions only occurred in the goats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)