Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T18:00:05.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of work and two planes of nutrition on trypanotolerant draught cattle infected with Trypanosoma congolense

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. J. Bennison ,
R. G. Clemence ,
R. F. Archibald ,
C. R. C. Hendy  and
L. Dempfle
J. J. Bennison
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
R. G. Clemence
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
R. F. Archibald
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
C. R. C. Hendy
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
L. Dempfle
Affiliation:
International Trypanotolerance Centre, PMB 14, Banjul, The Gambia
Get access

Abstract

Thirty-two N'Dama bulls aged 3 to 4 years were used to study the interactions between work, trypanosomosis and nutrition. The bulls were randomly allocated to two treatments, working (W) and non-working (N). Half in each treatment were placed on an andropogon hay basal diet (B), the other half on a better quality groundnut hay diet (H). Five days a week, four pairs of animals in the BW group and and four pairs in the HW group pulled weighted sledges four times around a 2056-m track. Loads were set to ensure energy expenditure was equivalent to 1·4 times maintenance. After 4 weeks all 32 bulls were injected intradermally with 104 Trypanosoma congolense organisms. The trial continued for a further 8 weeks.

Trypanosome infection caused a significant (P < 0·001) decline in packed cell volume (PCV), and the anaemia was more severe (P < 0·05) in working animals; three pairs in the HW group and two pairs in the BW group were withdrawn because PCV fell below 17%. Diet had no effect on PCV or parasitaemia. Infection caused a decline in food intake (P < 0·001) but with significant interactions between diet and work. Intake patterns were similar in the BN and BW groups whilst the HW animals consumed significantly more groundnut hay compared with the HN group (P < 0·01). However, nutrition had no significant effect on lap times or the team's ability to work under trypanosomosis challenge. Post-infection, diet was the dominant factor determining weight change, HN and HW animals weighed significantly more than BN and BW animals (P < 0·01) and the interaction between period, diet and work demonstrated that BWhad the lowest weights in the latter stages of the trial (P < 0·05).

The results suggest that supplementation with better quality forages confers no benefit to an animal infected with trypanosomes. Nor can trypanotolerant cattle sustain long periods of work if subiected to a primary challenge of trypanosomes.

Keywords

cattlenutritiontrypanosomiasiswork
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , June 1998 , pp. 595 - 605
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirements of ruminant livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Agyemang, K., Dwinger, R. H., Touray, B. N., Jeannin, P., Fofana, D. and Grieve, A. S. 1990. Effects of nutrition on the degree of anaemia and liveweight changes in N'Dama cattle infected with trypanosomes. Livestock Production Science 26: 39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akinbamijo, O. O., Bennison, J. J., Romney, D. L., Wassink, G. J., Jaitner, J., Clifford, D. J. and Dempfle, L. 1997. An evaluation of food intake, digestive physiology and live-weight changes of N'dama and Gobra zebu bulls following experimental Trypanosoma congolense infection. Animal Science 65: 151–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alford, R. J. 1994. Working and feeding strategies of draught N'Dama oxen in a Gambian village. M.Sc. thesis, Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Authié, E. 1994. Trypanosomiasis and trypanotolerance in cattle: a role for congopain? Parasitology Today 10: 360–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dwinger, R. H., Clifford, D. J., Agyemang, K., Gettinby, G., Grieve, A. S., Kora, S. and Bojang, M. A. 1992. Comparative studies on N'Dama and zebu cattle following repeated infections with Trypanosoma congolense. Research in Veterinary Science 52: 292–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, P. R. 1985. A review of the nutrient requirements of draught oxen. In Draught animal power for production (ed. Copland, J. W.), proceedings of an international workshop held in James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, 10–16 July 1985, pp. 59–68. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra.Google Scholar
Lawrence, P. R. and Pearson, R. A. 1985. Factors affecting measurement of draught force, work output and power of oxen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 105: 703–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, D. O., Kluger, M. J. and Vander, A. J. 1985. Suppression of food intake during infection: is interleukin-1 involved? American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42: 1179–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matthewman, R. W. and Dijkman, J. T. 1993. The nutrition of ruminant draught animals. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 121: 297–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miert, A. S. J. P. A. M. van, Duin, C. T. M. van and Anika, S. M. 1986. Anorexia during febrile conditions in dwarf goats. The effect of diazepam, flurbiprofen and naloxone. The Veterinary Quarterly 8: 266–273.Google ScholarPubMed
Munzinger, P. 1982. Animal traction in Africa. GATE GTZ, 120. Friedrich Vieweg & Son, Braunschweig, Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Murray, C. M., Murray, M., Murray, P. K., Morrison, W. I., Payne, C. and Mclntyre, W. I. M. 1977. Diagnosis of African trypanosomiasis in cattle. Improved parasitological and serological techniques. Fifteenth meeting of the International Scientific Council for Trypanosomiasis Research and Control Publication no. 110 OAU/STRC, The Gambia, pp. 247–254.Google Scholar
Murray, M., Clifford, D. J., Gettinby, G., Snow, W. F. and Mclntyre, W. I. M. 1981. Susceptibility to African trypanosomiasis of N'Dama and zebu cattle in an area of Glossina morsitans submorsitans challenge. The Veterinary Record 109: 503–510.Google Scholar
Murray, M., Trail, J. C. M., Turner, D. A. and Wissocq, W. 1983. Livestock productivity and trypanotolerance. Network training manual. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Osaer, S., Goossens, B., Clifford, D. J., Kora, S. and Kassama, M. 1994. A comparison of the susceptibility of Djallonke sheep and West African dwarf goats to experimental infection with two different strains of Trypanosoma congolense. Veterinary Parasitology 51: 191–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payne, R. C., Djauhari, D., Partoutomo, S., Jones, T. W. and Pearson, R. A. 1991. Trypanosoma evansi infection in worked and unworked buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) in Indonesia. Veterinary Parasitology 40: 197–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ravindran, S., Massaquoi, R. C. and Wiles, S. 1990. Research for the control of draught animal diseases in West Africa: needs, experiences and methods. In Research for development of animal traction in West Africa (ed. Lawrence, P. R., Lawrence, K., Dijkman, J. T. and Starkey, P. H.), proceedings of the fourth workshop of the West Africa Animal Traction Network, Kano, Nigeria, 9–13 July 1990. International Livestock Centre for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Google Scholar
Roberts, C. J. and Gray, A. R. 1973. Studies on trypanosome-resistant cattle. II. The effect of trypanosomiasis on N'Dama, Muturu and zebu cattle. Tropical Animal Health and Production 5: 220–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Romney, D. L., N'Jie, A., Clifford, D., Holmes, P. H., Richard, D. and Gill, M. 1997. The influence of plane of nutrition on the effects of infection with Trypanosoma congolense in trypanotolerant cattle. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 129: 83–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Starkey, P. 1981. Farming with work oxen in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone Work Oxen Project, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Njala University College.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1994. SAS/STAT guide for personal computers, version 6.1 for Windows. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Sumberg, J. and Gilbert, E. 1992. Agricultural mechanisation in The Gambia: draught, donkeys and minimum tillage. African Livestock Research 1: 1–10.Google Scholar
Verstegen, M. W. A., Zwart, D., Hel, W. van der, Brouwer, B. O. and Wensing, T. 1991. Effect of Trypanosoma vivax infection on energy and nitrogen metabolism of West African dwarf goats. Journal of Animal Science 69: 1667–1677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zwart, D., Brouwer, B. O., Hel, W. van der, Akker, H. N. van den and Verstegen, M. W. A. 1991. Effect of Trypanosoma vivax infection on body temperature, feed intake, and metabolic rate of West African dwarf goats. Journal of Animal Science 69: 3780–3788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed