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Theileria parva: influence of vector, parasite and host relationships on the epidemiology of theileriosis in southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R. A. I. Norval ,
J. A. Lawrence ,
A. S. Young ,
B. D. Perry ,
T. T. Dolan  and
J. Scott
R. A. I. Norval
Affiliation:
International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, (ILRAD), P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
J. A. Lawrence
Affiliation:
P.O. Box 30750, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
A. S. Young
Affiliation:
Overseas Development Administration of U.K., Protozoology Division, National Veterinary Research Centre, Muguga, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 32, Kikuyu, Kenya
B. D. Perry
Affiliation:
International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, (ILRAD), P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
T. T. Dolan
Affiliation:
International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, (ILRAD), P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
J. Scott
Affiliation:
International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, (ILRAD), P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya
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Extract

The protozoan parasite Theileria parva, transmitted by the ixodid tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, is the cause of East Coast fever (ECF) and the related syndromes of Corridor disease and January disease in cattle of eastern, central and southern Africa. It is likely that buffalo (Syncerus caffer) are the natural host of T. parva. In eastern and southern Africa, there exist both buffalo-adapted and cattle-adapted T. parva. Disease caused by buffalo-adapted parasites is called Corridor disease, and that caused by cattle-adapted parasites is termed East Coast fever. In eastern Africa, it has been shown experimentally that buffalo-adapted T. parva can, after serial passage in cattle, become adapted to cattle, in which it can then be maintained and cause ECF. This adaptation has been termed transformation. The transformation of buffalo-adapted T. parva to a cattle-adapted parasite has not been reported in southern Africa, and ECF, eradicated from South Africa, Swaziland and southern Mozambique by 1960, has not reappeared in the subcontinent. This paper discusses the possible reasons for this, and hypothesizes that vector population dynamics and the susceptibility of the vector population to infection with T. parva are among the most important factors which influence the expression of ECF as a disease entity, and the likelihood of transformation occurring. It also considers the possibility that disappearance of ECF from southern Africa resulted from the extinction, as a result of vigorous control measures and unfavourable climatic conditions, of non-diapausing populations of R. appendiculatus that may have been introduced from eastern Africa with cattle imported in 1901.

Keywords

Theileria parva; theileriosisRhipicephalus appendiculatus; epidemiologybuffalo
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 102 , Issue 3 , June 1991 , pp. 347 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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