Morbidity and Mortality Rates in East Coast Fever (Theileria Parva Infection) and Their Application to Drug Screening Procedures

Abstract

The enzootic status of East Coast fever in much of eastern, central and southern Africa makes this infection one of the most important cattle diseases, economically, to the stock owner. The losses are both indirect and direct. The former arise from expensive and repetitive tick control measures and the latter from the high mortality rates in infected cattle. Textbooks cite morbidity rates of 100 per cent and mortality rates exceeding 95 per cent are reported from South America, whereas in East America recoveries are frequent in Zebu cattle in enzootic areas. Protocols, however, have not hitherto been published.