Surra, caused by Trypanosoma evansi, is a re-emerging animal trypanosomosis, which is of special concern for camel-rearing regions of Africa and Asia. Surra decreases milk yield, lessens animal body condition score and reduces market value of exported animals resulting in substantial economic losses. A cross-sectional seroprevalence study of dromedary camels was conducted in Algeria, and major risk factors associated with infection were identified by collecting data on animal characteristics and herd management practices. The seroprevalence of T. evansi infection was determined in sera of 865 camels from 82 herds located in eastern Algeria using an antibody test (card agglutination test for Trypanosomiasis – CATT/T. evansi). Individual and herd seroprevalence were 49.5% and 73.2%, respectively, indicating substantial exposure of camels to T. evansi in the four districts studied. Five significant risk factors for T. evansi hemoparasite infection were identified: geographical area, herd size, husbandry system, accessibility to natural water sources and type of watering. There was no association between breed, sex or age with T. evansi infection. Results of this study provide baseline information that will be useful for launching control programmes in the region and potentially elsewhere.

An efficacy trial of Cymelarsan (R) on a Zambian strain of Trypanosoma brucei brucei was done. Twenty-five male mice were infected intraperitoneally with 10(6) of T. b. brucei isolated from a dog. Five groups of 5 mice were treated with 0 (control), 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg cymelarsan, respectively. The target was to achieve aparasitaemia for 30 days post-treatment, euthanising those that remained parasitaemic or relapsed before then. The 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg groups remained parasitaemic although the parasitaemic levels were reduced. The 1.0 mg/kg group had a proportion of aparasitaemic mice. However, all mice in the 2.0 mg/kg group remained aparasitaemic until day 20 when 2 mice relapsed. These results suggested that more than 2.0 mg/kg was required to eliminate this strain