Abstract

Ticks and tick-borne diseases undermine cattle fitness and productivity in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, cattle are challenged by numerous tick species, especially during the dry season. Consequently, several TBDs are known to be endemic in cattle, including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis. To date, the few studies carried out on tick-borne haemoparasites have been done in the northern part of the country to the detriment of the western highlands even though it represents the third cattle breeding area in Cameroon. This study aimed to ascertain the occurrence of tick-borne haemoparasites of veterinary importance in cattle found in Menoua Division, West Region of Cameroon.

Between November 2017 and October 2018, 458 blood samples were collected from cattle in Menoua Division. The hematocrit centrifugation method was used to determine the Packed Cell Volume of the animals sampled. In addition, blood smears were made, stained with Giemsa and examined for haemoparasites, using standard parasitological techniques.

In total, 372 of the 458 (82.2%) animals were found infected, with 301 (84.43%) of them being infected by two or more microorganisms, with up to 21 possible combinations of pathogens detected. Anaplasma marginale was the most prevalent microorganism (31.66%), followed by Theileria spp (28.6%), Babesia bovis (20.52%), Anapalsma centrale (9.83%) and Babesia bigemina (9.39%). The prevalence of infections was higher in juvenile cattle compared to adults and calves (OR=2.11). Cattle of the exotic breed were more infected than cattle of local breeds (OR=5.39). In addition, the prevalence of infection was higher during the months of March and February (88.16 and 84.21% respectively). The mean parasite density of the infected animals were higher in Dschang and Fongo-Tongo and was 3 times higher in exotic cattle breed than in local breeds (p<0.05). The overall rate of anemia was 13.8% (63/458) and animals from Nkong-Ni (23.58%) and Fokoue (20.97%) were the most threatened. In addition, all the Simmental animals sampled were anemic. The frequency of anemia increased significantly (OR≈11) between the months of November to March, as well as during the dry season compared to the rainy season (p<0.05). The result of this study shows that a variety of haemoparasites species are found to infect cattle in Menoua Division. The high prevalence of infection recorded suggests that tick-borne pathogens may be endemic in the study area and calls for a radical approach in terms of routine prophylactic treatments of animals and regular vector control.