Survey of equine piroplasmosis in the Savanna areas, Bauchi state, North-eastern Nigeria

The study was conducted from July to October 2011 to determine the prevalence of equine piroplasmosis in Bauchi state, North-eastern Nigeria. Four hundred horses were randomly sampled from the three ecological areas of the state which include Sahel Savanna, Sudan Savanna and Guinea Savanna. Blood samples were analysed using thin blood smear and Giemsa stain and ticks samples were identified visually. The overall piroplasmosis prevalence was 18% with B. caballi accounting for 83.3%, T. equi 11.1% whereas mix infection was detected in 5.6% of the animals. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the prevalence among the horses in the three ecological areas as well as between piroplasma infection and Paked-cell volume. The mean Paked-cell volume of the uninfected (37.67 +/- 0.56) and B. caballi infected horses (34.82 +/- 0.56) were within the normal range, while values for T. equi infected (30.87 +/- 1.44) and horses with mix infection (26.50 +/- 2.02) were below the normal range and significantly lower than those of the first two groups (P<0.05). The tick species found feeding on the horses include; Rhipicephalus evertsi (89.2%), Amblyomma variegatum (9.2%) and Boophilus decoloratus (1.5%). Rhipicephalus evertsi was the only species distributed in all the ecological areas, on the other hand, the A. variegatum and the B. decoloratus were found to be restricted to the Sahel and Sudan Savanna areas respectively. For the first time, the study has revealed the existence of equine piroplasmosis in Bauchi state and the three identified tick species are the potential vectors of the disease in the area. However, further studies using more sensitive diagnostic tests are recommended.