The Development and Application of a Polymerase Chain Reaction Methodology for Identification of African Trypanosomes

Abstract

The accurate identification of different trypanosome species, subspecies and strains is a fundamental problem in studies of the epidemiology of trypanosomiasis in Africa. Indeed the risk to livestock and man can only be fully appreciated if pathogenic trypanosomes are identified unequivocally. Using conventional methodologies for identifying trypanosomes, it is difficult to distinguish between species with different pathogenicities, since some species are morphologically indistinguishable, and may share developmental sites in the tsetse fly vector. Until recently, identification of the latter relied on location in the fly, which is only accurate to subgenus level. This method also fails to detect mixed infections, for example of Nannomonas and Duttonella, or to identify immature infections where trypanosomes are found only in the midgut.