Haemoparasitic Infections of Camels (Camelus dromedarius) Brought-In For Slaughter at the Maiduguri Central Abattoir, Nigeria - Abstract
A total of 200 blood samples were collected at Maiduguri abattoir within a period of five months (March-July, 2001). Out of these, 76 were males and 124 females. The overall prevalence of haemoparasitc infection was found to be 8% (16), with 2.5% Anaplasma specie; Babesia spp constituted 10.5% and
Trypanosoma sp 0.5%. Females were found to be more infected (4.5%) than their males (3.5%) counterparts. The infection rates were highest in the months of July (3%) and April (2.5%) while it was low in the rest of the months. It is important to note that other methods of blood screening like molecular and serological techniques other than thick and thin blood smears should be adopted for more sensitivity and specificity. This study highlighted the significance of camels in transmitting ticks and tick-borne diseases among livestock and might stimulate the government to include camels in disease prevention and control surveillance.