PDF《kafuensis) in the Kafue basin》

10 (Stata Corp, http://www.stata.com) for analysis. Logistic regression was used to determine the associations between body condition (based on the KFI) and parasite infection while the ROC test was used to determine the reliability of the model. Pearson'

s chi-square was used to determine the correlation of concurrent infections between different parasites. Results Descriptive analysis Five genera of endo-parasites and two species of ecto- parasites were identified (Table 1). The endo-parasites comprised of Schistosoma mattei isolated from the mesenteric veins, Fasciola gigantica from the liver and species of Amphistoma from the abomasum and rumen. Species of Setaria were isolated from the peritoneal cav- ity in the abdomen, while cysts of cysticercus of Taenia saginata were collected from the muscles of the heart, tongue and inter-coastal region. Ectoparasites included oestrid larvae (Strobiloestrous vanzyli) isolated from the subcutis of the back and dorsal aspect (Table 2) and Rhipicephalus appendiculatus obtained from different body parts of the skin surface (Table 2). Fasciola gigantica was the second most prevalent endo- parasite at a proportion of 52.5% (21/40) after species of Amphistosoma found in virtually all animals screened. Concurrent infections of Amphistosoma and Schistosoma mattei accounted for 17.5% (7/40), species of Amphisto- soma and Fasciola gigantica 20% (8/40), Schistosoma mattei and Fasciola gigantica 17.5% (8/40), while a com- bination of all trematodes (trematodes Amphistosoma species, Fasciola gigantica and Schistosoma mattei) accounted for 12.5% (5/40). Co-infections of all trema- todes and nematodes (Setaria spp.) accounted for 5% (2/ 40), while a combination of trematodes, nematodes and cestodes (cysts) accounted for 2.5% (1/40). There was a correlation (r = 0.361, p <

0.022) between amphistosome and schistosome infections. Logistic regression analysis Our findings from the predictive logistic regression model indicate that body condition based on the KFI was not influenced by parasite infestation (Table 3). We also observed that parasite burden was not influenced by sex. However, age had an influence on parasite burden because older animals above

15 years were 1.5 times more prone to Table

1 Crude parasitic infection in lechwe antelopes across the two sampling areas (Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon) (n = 40), indicative of crude prevalence values per type of parasite (October to December, 2005) Parasite No. of Lechwes tested Proportion of Positive findings(%) 95% Confidence Interval Amphistoma spp.

40 100 - Schistosoma spp.

40 30 [15.2-44.8] Cysticercus bovis

40 15 [3........