HAEMATOLOGICAL AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL FINDINGS ASSOCIATED WITH NATURAL TRYPANOSOME INFECTIONS IN NIGERIAN HORSES

Abstract

This study evaluated the haematological and serum biochemical findings associated with natural trypanosome infections in Nigerian horses. T! he study population were trade horses presented, for sale and slaughter at the Oboilo Afor horse Lairage/Slaughter slab, Udenu Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. The horse Lairage/Slaughter slab was visited once a week for 6 months during which period a total of 207 horses that were bought for slaughter were clinically examined and blood collected from them for parasitological examination, haematology and serum biochemistry determinations. Out of the 207 horses studied, 5 (2.4%) were infected with trypanosomes, and the trypanosome species involved was Trypanosoma brucei in all the 5 cases. The mean packed cell volume, red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, total leukocyte, neutrophil and eosinophil counis, serum protein and albumin levels of the trypanosome infected horses (TIH) was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of the non-trypanosome infected apparently healthy horses (AHH). The mean erythrocyte corpuscular volume, monocyte and platelet counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the AHH. There was however no significant (p > 0.05) differences between the TIH and AHH in their mean erythrocyte mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, lymphocyte and basophil counts, serum alkaline phosphatase activity, and total cholesterol, creatinine and total bilirubin levels.