Shah Zeb Khan*, Umm-e-Aimen, Muhammad Rizwan, Amjad Ali, Imran Khan, Safiullah, Abidullah, Saghir Imdad, Waseemullah and Arsalan Khan
Veterinary Research and Disease Investigation Center, D.I. Khan Livestock Research and Development Station, Paharpur, D.I. Khan, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: drshahzebk@gmail.com
A one-year epidemiological survey was conducted to determine the age, sex, and season-wise prevalence of Trypanosomiasis in dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius) at Dera Ismail Khan region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, province of Pakistan. A total of 600 blood samples were parasitological examined, of which 300 were male and 300 were females. Camels have grouped age-wise as Adults (<2 years age) and calves (>2 years age), sex-wise as; male and female, while kept the ratio of animals in both age and sex group, were kept nearly 1:1. Season-wise prevalence was recorded by splitting the data into four seasons: pre-monsoon, Monsoon, Post-Monsoon, and winter. The samples were examined microscopically using thin, thick, and wet blood film to identify Trypanosoma evansi based on morphological characteristics. An overall prevalence was 6.67%. Age-wise prevalence was high at 9.06% in adults and low at 4.30% in calves (P<0.05). Sex-wise, the infestation was observed as high 7.66% in females and low 5.66% in male camels (P>0.05). Among four seasons of the year, the highest prevalence, 11.18%, was observed in the rainy season of monsoon, followed by 8.45, 7.85, and 0% in post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, and winter, respectively (P<0.05). All the results were statistically analyzed on SPSS using the Pearson Chi-Square test. This survey showed that age and season have a significant effect while sex has a non-significant effect on the prevalence of Trypanosomiasis in dromedary camels.