[Epidemiological importance of the animal reservoir of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in the Congo. 1. Prevalence of animal trypanosomiasis in the foci of sleeping sickness].

Parasitological and serological tests were performed in 1287 domestic animals originating from the Brazzaville area and three sleeping sickness foci in Congo. Nannomonas and Trypanozoon were the only sub-genera present in the blood of animals, with prevalences of 16.9% and 0.5%, respectively. The use of Testryp CATT allowed a better estimation of the real frequency of animal trypanosomiasis which in some foci, was found to be three times higher than the parasitological prevalence. Seven stocks of Trypanozoon were isolated from pigs and sheep. A biochemical analysis indicated that they belonged to the T.b. gambiense sub-species. However, considering the low prevalence of T.b. gambiense infections in animals, it is doubtful that this reservoir plays an important epidemiological role.