Abstract:
Camel trypanosomiasis is an enzootic disease that has a significant economic impact on
dromedary camel producing pastoralists. The study was meant to estimate the seroprevalence
and assess the associated risk factors with the communities understanding of the disease in
Fafan zone. A cross-sectional study design was carried out from July 2021 to December 2021 on
570 camels enrolled following a systematic random sampling in two selected districts, Goljano
and Shabelley. A participatory Appraisal tool, on the other hand, was carried out on 6
independent groups of each 8 respondents. Sera sample was collected from the study animals
and tested for the presence of anti-Trypanosoma evansi antibodies by Card Agglutination Test.
The seroprevalence of Camel trypanosomiasis was found to be 25.44% (95% CI= 21.91-29.22)
with a comparable seroprevalence of 27.3% (95% CI= 22.3-32.7) in Goljano and 23.4% (95%
CI=18.5-28.9) in Shabelley districts. Among the factors studied; camel with no history of
previous typanocidal treatment (AOR= 4.89, 95%CI: 2.49 - 9.60), poor body condition (AOR=
11.9, 95%CI: 7.63 – 18.86), old (AOR= 2.68, 95%CI: 1.05-6.85) and adult age (AOR= 2.63,
95%CI: 1.13- 6.09) were found an independent predictors of camel trypanosomiasis. The
communities ranked camel trypanosomias (Dhukaan) as the second most important diseases next
to tick infestation (Shilin) up on both simple ranking and pair wise ranking of the diseases
followed by pneumonia (Dhugato), mange (Cadho) and pox (Furuq) in descending order (W =
0.94; p <0.001). The communities also characterized camel trypanosomiasis as a disease with
sign of urine odour, oedema, emaciation, depression, and hair loss up on matrix scoring (W =
0.82-0.95; p<0.05). The proportional pilling tool indicates highest disease prevalence of
trypanosomiasis (11%) followed by tick infestation (8.5%) while the highest death rate (3%) and
CFR (66.7%) were attributed to pneumonia followed by trypanosomiasis. Using seasonal
calendar the informants reported that the disease commonly to occur during the major rainy
seasons (Gu’u). Camel trypanosomiasis is a well-established disease peaking at rainy season
and is a priority of concern for the pastoralists in the area. Therefore, participatory based
disease prevention and control measure against the parasite and its vectors in suggested.
