Correlation between hematocrit - anemia and trypanosome infection status: case of N’Dama cattle from Mushie ranch in Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Izeli sector of the Mushie ranch (Mai-Ndombe province) in the Democratic Republic of Congo from August 3 to September 5, 2014 and from February 6 to March 7, 2015. The objective was to study the relationship between (1) hematocrit and anemia status, (2) hematocrit and trypanosome infection status, and (3) anemia and trypanosome infection status on N’Dama cattle raised on the ranch. The 324 cattle sample, determined by the systematic sampling technique, was obtained according to the formula of Thrusfield (2005). Four herds were selected on the basis of criteria set in advance: Selection, Nganzaka, Dwe and Wulu-Wulu. Parasitological diagnosis using the buffy coat technique determined the hematocrit for each sampled cattle and then identified positive cattle. Parasitological results were supplemented by molecular biology (PCR) analyzes that confirmed trypanosome infection in each flock. The results of the study reveal a significant correlation between hematocrit and anemia status (p> 0.05), a non-significant correlation between hematocrit and trypanosome infection status (p˂0.05) and finally a significant correlation between anemia and trypanosome infection (p> 0.05).

Keywords

• Hematocrit
• trypanosome infection state
• anemia
• buffy coat
• molecular biology