Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle

In natural populations, individuals may be infected with multiple distinct pathogens at a time. These pathogens may act independently or interact with each other and the host through various mechanisms, with resultant varying outcomes on host health and survival. To study effects of pathogens and th...

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Main Authors: Thumbi, Samuel M., Bronsvoort, B.M. de C., Poole, Elizabeth J., Kiara, Henry K., Toye, Philip G., Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N., Conradie, I., Jennings, A., Handel, Ian G., Coetzer, Jacobus A.W., Steyl, J.C.A., Hanotte, Olivier H., Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Public Library of Science 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/67377
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author Thumbi, Samuel M.
Bronsvoort, B.M. de C.
Poole, Elizabeth J.
Kiara, Henry K.
Toye, Philip G.
Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N.
Conradie, I.
Jennings, A.
Handel, Ian G.
Coetzer, Jacobus A.W.
Steyl, J.C.A.
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
author_browse Bronsvoort, B.M. de C.
Coetzer, Jacobus A.W.
Conradie, I.
Handel, Ian G.
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Jennings, A.
Kiara, Henry K.
Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N.
Poole, Elizabeth J.
Steyl, J.C.A.
Thumbi, Samuel M.
Toye, Philip G.
Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
author_facet Thumbi, Samuel M.
Bronsvoort, B.M. de C.
Poole, Elizabeth J.
Kiara, Henry K.
Toye, Philip G.
Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N.
Conradie, I.
Jennings, A.
Handel, Ian G.
Coetzer, Jacobus A.W.
Steyl, J.C.A.
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
author_sort Thumbi, Samuel M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In natural populations, individuals may be infected with multiple distinct pathogens at a time. These pathogens may act independently or interact with each other and the host through various mechanisms, with resultant varying outcomes on host health and survival. To study effects of pathogens and their interactions on host survival, we followed 548 zebu cattle during their first year of life, determining their infection and clinical status every 5 weeks. Using a combination of clinical signs observed before death, laboratory diagnostic test results, gross-lesions on post-mortem examination, histo-pathology results and survival analysis statistical techniques, cause-specific aetiology for each death case were determined, and effect of co-infections in observed mortality patterns. East Coast fever (ECF) caused by protozoan parasiteTheileria parva and haemonchosis were the most important diseases associated with calf mortality, together accounting for over half (52%) of all deaths due to infectious diseases. Co-infection with Trypanosoma species increased the hazard for ECF death by 6 times (1.4–25; 95% CI). In addition, the hazard for ECF death was increased in the presence of Strongyleeggs, and this was burden dependent. An increase by 1000 Strongyle eggs per gram of faeces count was associated with a 1.5 times (1.4–1.6; 95% CI) increase in the hazard for ECF mortality. Deaths due to haemonchosis were burden dependent, with a 70% increase in hazard for death for every increase in strongyle eggs per gram count of 1000. These findings have important implications for disease control strategies, suggesting a need to consider co-infections in epidemiological studies as opposed to single-pathogen focus, and benefits of an integrated approach to helminths and East Coast fever disease control.
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spelling CGSpace673772024-03-06T10:16:43Z Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle Thumbi, Samuel M. Bronsvoort, B.M. de C. Poole, Elizabeth J. Kiara, Henry K. Toye, Philip G. Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N. Conradie, I. Jennings, A. Handel, Ian G. Coetzer, Jacobus A.W. Steyl, J.C.A. Hanotte, Olivier H. Woolhouse, Mark E.J. animal diseases cattle livestock In natural populations, individuals may be infected with multiple distinct pathogens at a time. These pathogens may act independently or interact with each other and the host through various mechanisms, with resultant varying outcomes on host health and survival. To study effects of pathogens and their interactions on host survival, we followed 548 zebu cattle during their first year of life, determining their infection and clinical status every 5 weeks. Using a combination of clinical signs observed before death, laboratory diagnostic test results, gross-lesions on post-mortem examination, histo-pathology results and survival analysis statistical techniques, cause-specific aetiology for each death case were determined, and effect of co-infections in observed mortality patterns. East Coast fever (ECF) caused by protozoan parasiteTheileria parva and haemonchosis were the most important diseases associated with calf mortality, together accounting for over half (52%) of all deaths due to infectious diseases. Co-infection with Trypanosoma species increased the hazard for ECF death by 6 times (1.4–25; 95% CI). In addition, the hazard for ECF death was increased in the presence of Strongyleeggs, and this was burden dependent. An increase by 1000 Strongyle eggs per gram of faeces count was associated with a 1.5 times (1.4–1.6; 95% CI) increase in the hazard for ECF mortality. Deaths due to haemonchosis were burden dependent, with a 70% increase in hazard for death for every increase in strongyle eggs per gram count of 1000. These findings have important implications for disease control strategies, suggesting a need to consider co-infections in epidemiological studies as opposed to single-pathogen focus, and benefits of an integrated approach to helminths and East Coast fever disease control. 2014 2015-07-27T07:48:12Z 2015-07-27T07:48:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/67377 en Open Access Public Library of Science Thumbi, S.M., Bronsvoort, B.M. de C., Poole, E.J., Kiara, H., Toye, P.G., Mbole-Kariuki, M.N., Conradie, I., Jennings, A., Handel, I.G., Coetzer, J.A.W., Steyl, J.C.A., Hanotte, O. and Woolhouse, M.E.J. 2014. Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle. PLoS ONE 9(2): e76324.
spellingShingle animal diseases
cattle
livestock
Thumbi, Samuel M.
Bronsvoort, B.M. de C.
Poole, Elizabeth J.
Kiara, Henry K.
Toye, Philip G.
Mbole-Kariuki, Mary N.
Conradie, I.
Jennings, A.
Handel, Ian G.
Coetzer, Jacobus A.W.
Steyl, J.C.A.
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title_full Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title_fullStr Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title_full_unstemmed Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title_short Parasite co-infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
title_sort parasite co infections and their impact on survival of indigenous cattle
topic animal diseases
cattle
livestock
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/67377
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