Camel trypanosomiasis, Fly borne disease, and Surra are different names that indicate only one serious disease affecting camels.
When you are invited to examine a case of a camel with an intermittent fever, anemia, edema, and emaciation, you should firstly think about trypanosomiasis in camels.
Follow dr. Provet's article to know more about camel trypanosomiasis.
This article will include:
What's trypanosomiasis?
Cause of camel trypanosomiasis.
What are the other susceptible animals to trypanosomiasis?
Sources of camel trypanosomiasis infection.
Modes of trypanosomiasis transmission.
Pathogenesis of camel trypanosomiasis.
Clinical signs of camel trypanosomiasis.
Postmortem lesions of the disease.
How to diagnose camel trypanosomiasis?
Treatment of camel trypanosomiasis.
What's trypanosomiasis?
Trypanosomiasis is a collective name given to different species of Trypanosoma affecting all domesticated animals especially camels characterized by an intermittent fever, anemia, edema, and emaciation.
Cause of camel trypanosomiasis
The main causative agent of the disease is a parasite called Trypanosoma evansi.
This parasite can reach the lymph nodes, heart muscles, and cerebrospinal fluids.
What are the other susceptible animals to trypanosomiasis?
Different species of animals are susceptible to this parasitic disease, such as:
Large animals, including Camels, cattle, buffaloes, horses, dogs, pigs, and elephants which are more susceptible than Sheep and goats which can be carriers of the disease.
Laboratory animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, white rats, and mice are susceptible to the disease.
Sources of camel trypanosomiasis infection
There are mainly 3 sources of infection, including:
Infected camels.
Flies (Tabanus & Stomoxys), ticks, bats.
Sheep and goats (subclinical infection).
Modes of trypanosomiasis transmission
This disease can be transmitted to camels through:
Mechanically by biting flies.
Contaminated syringes with infected blood.
Bloodsucking bats (Vampire bats in South
America),
Infected ticks.
Dogs may be infected from eating infected camel meat.
Pathogenesis of camel trypanosomiasis
The Incubation period of camel trypanosomiasis is about 7-15 days, and then it becomes have serious effects on the camel, including:
Anemia low red blood cells count
Trypanosoma exotoxins destroy red cells resulting in hemolytic anemia.
Prevent the production of new red cells (aplastic anemia),
Hemoglobin packed cell volume and the total red cell counts were decreased.
Edema: trypanosomes multiply in the cardiac muscles resulting in cardiac insufficiency and congestive heart failure which is manifested clinically by general edema and considered the main cause of death.
Emaciation:
Trypanosomes consume blood glucose, hence depletes the glycogen reserve in the body leading to muscular atrophy and emaciation.
Clinical signs of camel trypanosomiasis
The clinical signs differ according to the form of the disease, including:
The acute form of camel trypanosomiasis
The course is about 3-4 months and the clinical signs of the acute form are:
Intermittent fever.
Lacrimation.
Constipation.
Edema of the lower parts of legs.
Enlargement of lymph nodes.
The clinical findings of this form are different, including:
Anemia and jaundice.
General edema in the base of neck and legs.
Emaciation (appearance of ribs and bones).
Enlargement of external lymph nodes.
Corneal opacity, blindness, and paralysis in advanced cases.
Chronic cough due to pulmonary edema.
Postmortem lesions of the disease
The examination of the dead animals shows:
Emaciated carcass.
Subcutaneous fat is replaced by gelatinous material.
Enlargement of lymph nodes and spleen.
Serous exudate and gelatinous material in the abdominal cavity.
Subcutaneous edema (anasarca).
How to diagnose camel trypanosomiasis?
The diagnosis depends mainly on:
The clinical signs.
Blood examinations, including:
Stained blood smear and wet smear made from ear vein and tip of the ear for detection of trypanosomes only in case of fever.
Decrease of Hb, PCV, and total RBCs count.
Trypanosomes can be detected from other body fluids, as lymphatic and cerebrospinal fluids.
Sero Chemical tests
They are not reliable for diagnoses alone such as the Formal gel test, Mercuric chloride test, and Thymol turbidity test for estimation of IgM, which increases in Trypanosoma evansi infection.
Animal inoculation
It is the most viable method for the diagnosis of trypanosomiasis in the febrile period when the trypanosomes are very scanty in the blood.
The citrated blood, lymphatic and cerebrospinal fluids can be inoculated intraperitoneally in mice or G. pigs.
In the positive cases, trypanosomes will be detected in the blood of mice within 2-11 days after inoculation.
Differential diagnosis:
Camel trypanosomiasis should be differentiated from:
Diptalonemiasis causes edema and enlarged lymph nodes.
Wasting diseases such as tuberculosis and caseous lymphadenitis.
Heavy tick infestation causes anemia and edema, especially in young camels.
Treatment of camel trypanosomiasis
The treatment of this disease should be early, and effective to protect the diseased camel from any complications.
This disease can be treated by:
Therapeutic treatment
The choice of the drugs used for the treatment of camel trypanosomiasis should be accurate, including:
Quinapyramine sulfate
Inject 1ml / 20 kg of 10% solution S/C
(5 mg /kg body weight).
But it has many side effects such as muscular tremors, salivation, frequent urination, and defecation.
So, you can inject heart stimulants 20 minutes before treatment to avoid these symptoms.
Isometamidin:
It is used as a 1% solution at a dose of 0.25 mg /kg body weight(1.25 ml/50Kg) by deep I/M.
Homidium chloride and Ethidium (homidium) bromide
It can be injected deep intramuscularly by 1 mg/kg body weight. (1ml /25 kg of 2.5% solution).
Suramin:
The standard dose of 500 Kg camel is 5 gm of suramin.
So, inject 1ml/10kg of 10% solution intravenously (10 mg/kg body weight).
Supportive treatment
The supportive treatment is necessary to overcome any complications of the disease, including:
Cardiorespiratory stimulants as Caffeine.
Haematinics and minerals.
Removal of edema by diuretics.
Finally, camel trypanosomiasis is a serious disease that cannot be neglected to avoid further more serious complications that threaten the camel's health.
Written by: Dr. Mai Foda
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