EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF CANINE TRYPANOSOMOSIS IN AN URBAN AREA OF IVORY COAST.

The article presents a study that assesses the source of infection of trypanosomosis among military working dogs, and to identify the occurrence of canine infection with Trypanosoma congolense in urban focus of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The study gathered and submitted blood from 123 dogs to Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing with the use of specific primers for T. congolense forest type. An entomological study was also made in an urban area near the military camp, and discovered that the occurrence of infection was 30.1% and PCR positiveness to T. congolense was not linked with age and sex of animals. The study reveals the possible risk of origination of the disease in free animal populations, and the contamination rate of dogs in enzootic zones.