Studies on isolation and drug sensitivity of Trypanosoma vivax in northern Nigeria.

In a study to investigate the occurrence in cattle of Trypanosoma vivax strains resistant to the normal therapeutic dose of homidium, 47 isolates of T. vivax were collected from 10 different trypanosomiasis treatment centres in the North Central State of Nigeria. Of these 47 isolates, 23 produced infection in the experimental animals that were used for subsequent drug sensitivity trials. While all but one of the experimental cattle inoculated with T. vivax became infected, less than 50% of the experimental sheep and none of the experimental goats were able to reproduce infection. This difference in infectivity is discussed and related to the stage of the T. vivax infection in the donor cattle. None of the 23 isolates of T. vivax was resistant to homidium. The value of sheep and goats in T. vivax experiments is discussed.