Biting flies and Trypanosoma vivax infection in three highland districts bordering lake Tana, Ethiopia

An epidemiological study was conducted to determine the prevalence of trypanosomosis in cattle, small ruminants and Equidae, and to identify biting flies; potential mechanical vectors of trypanosomes in the three districts of Bahir Dar Zuria, Dembia and Fogera, bordering lake Tana, Ethiopia. About 1509 cattle, 798 small ruminants and 749 Equidae were bled for the prevalence study using the buffy-coat method and the measurement of the hematocrit value. Sixty-six NGU and 20 monoconical traps were deployed for the fly survey. The results indicated the presence of trypanosomes in 6.1% (92/1509) of the cattle with a maximum during the late rainy season (9.6%) than the early dry season (3.6%) at Fogera district. Prevalence at the district level varied from 4% to 9.6%. Only one sheep (1/122) and one goat (1/676) were found positive for T. vivax-like trypanosomes and none of the Equidae was positive. All the trypanosomes encountered in cattle belong to the single species of T. vivax. The PCV was negatively associated with detection of T. vivax (21.6% in infected versus 25.4% in non-infected cattle). A total of 55,398 biting flies were caught of which 49,353 (89.08%) belong to Stomoxys, 4715 (8.51%) to horse flies and 1330 (2.4%) to Chrysops species. There was no tsetse fly. Species identification has indicated the presence of Atylotus agrestis, Chrysops streptobalia, Stomoxys calcitrans, S. nigra, S. pulla, S. pallida, S. sitiens, S. taeniata, S. uruma, Haematopota lasiops and Hippobosca variegata. The overall apparent density was 214.7 flies/trap/day. Seasonal comparison showed higher fly catches in the late rainy season than the early dry season. This study indicated that T. vivax infections culminate in cattle at the same time as mechanical vectors such as Stomoxys sp. and Atylotus agrestis. Therefore, attention towards T. vivax infection in cattle is essential to control the impact of the disease on productivity. A further study on biting flies is recommended.