Animal trypanosomiasis in South America. Current status, partnership, and information technology

Animal trypanosome species of economical importance in South America include T. vivax and T. evansi. Both species are described in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, French Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. In Argentina and Guyana, only T. evansi and T. vivax are found, respectively. Our studies on T. vivax indicated that the parasite was spreading around 1.3 km per day in Bolivia. We found severe leukopenia in bovines from Pantanal (Brazil) and the Department of Santa Cruz (Bolivia). Because it can cause immunosuppression, the importance of trypanosomiasis control in ensuring success of vaccination campaigns against foot and mouth disease (FMD) in the Pantanal and Bolivia should be considered. The use of one needle for several animals during FMD campaigns in Brazil and Bolivia could also contribute to the spread of T. vivax. The anticipated losses due to T. vivax could exceed $160 million, assuming there are 11 million head of cattle in the Brazilian Pantanal and Bolivian lowlands. International collaboration among research institutes is needed to deal with these diseases and parasites. Previous efforts using information technologies resulted in the creation of two discussion lists (Tryplink and Trypan), the edition of the on-line version of Trypnews and Internet conferences.