Vet World Vol.17 March Article - 14
Research Article
Veterinary World, 17(3): 620-629
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.620-629
Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection among calves in Narok County, Kenya
1 Department of Clinical Studies, University of Nairobi, P.O Box 29053-00625, Kangemi, Nairobi.
2 Department of Veterinary Surgery, Theriogenology and Medicine, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya.
3 Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Nairobi, P.O Box 29053-00625, Kangemi, Nairobi.
Background and Aim: East Coast fever (ECF), caused by Theileria parva, is a devastating disease that causes significant economic losses to cattle production in sub-Saharan Africa. Prevention and control of ECF are challenging in pastoral settings due to inadequate epidemiological information. This study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with T. parva infection among calves in different production systems to help design appropriate control interventions.
Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 318 calves and tested using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay targeting antibodies against polymorphic immunodominant molecules found on the surface of T. parva. Information on calf characteristics and management practices was also collected during sampling. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyze potential risk factors, such as age and acaricide application, where p < 0.05 was considered significant
Results: Of the 318 calves sampled, 41 (12.89%) were positive for T. parva, with a higher proportion in pastoral systems (36.58%) than in mixed farming systems (34.10%) and agropastoral systems (29.27%). From univariate analysis, calf age (p = 0.002), body weight (p = 0.001), suckling status (p = 0.026), rectal temperature (p = 0.06), calves on pasture (p = 0.022), other feeds (p = 0.004), feed grown within the farm (p = 0.004), acaricide application (p = 0.001), and acaricide application frequency (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with seropositivity. However, calf age (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91-0.99; p = 0.04), other feeds (OR, 8.82; 95% CI, 1.74-44.63; p = 0.009), and suckling status (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.15-0.99; p = 0.05) were significantly associated with T. parva infection in the multivariable mixed logistic model.
Conclusion: T. parva is circulating in young calves in the study area (and possibly in cattle populations due to maternal transfer of antibodies to the calves). There is a need for molecular surveillance to determine the presence and burden of T. parva infection.
Keywords: calves, risk factors, seroprevalence, Theileria parva.
How to cite this article: Ngetich W, Gitau GK, Okumu TA, Aboge GO, and Muasya D (2024) Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with Theileria parva infection among calves in Narok County, Kenya, Veterinary World, 17(3): 620-629.
Received: 08-11-2023 Accepted: 21-02-2024 Published online: 17-03-2024
Corresponding author: E-mail:
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.620-629
Copyright: Ngetich, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
