Cymelarsan in the treatment of buffaloes naturally infected with Trypanosoma evansi in south China.

Forty buffaloes naturally infected with Trypanosoma evansi in the South of China were treated with a single dose of a new arsenical. Cymelarsan (Mel Cy) at 0.25 mg/kg to 3.0 mg/kg by intramuscular injection. All animals were cured, with the exception of two out of four animals treated with 0.25 mg/kg Mel Cy which relapsed two months after drug administration. Two out of eight buffaloes in control groups treated with a single dose of diminazene aceturate (Berenil), 3.5 mg/kg, relapsed two months after treatment. All cured animals showed no trypanosomes in their blood when tested within one to three years after administration. A scleroma about 2 to 3.5 cm in diameter was found at the site of injection at the dose of 1.5 mg/kg Mel Cy in three of eight animals. At a dose of 3 mg/kg, Mel Cy induced obvious necrosis of the tissue at the site of injection. The results of field application proved that Mel Cy is a very active trypanocidal drug against T. evansi.