Use of cElisa in Verification of Drug Levels in the Serum following Treatment by Various Personnel in Lamu District
Abstract
Animal trypanosomosis is a serious constraint to animal production in many parts
of Africa. Economic losses in Kenya are estimated at Kshs.700million annually
from livestock deaths. The cost of importation of trypanocidal drugs and pesticides
amounts to KShs.300 million and 60 million respectively. Control of this disease is
mainly by use of chemoprophylactic and chemotherapeutic drugs including
diminazene aceturate, isometamidium and homidium bromide. Farmers have been
experiencing treatment failure mainly attributable to improper use of trypanocidal
drugs, development of resistance and poor quality of drugs. This study was carried
out to determine the role"of trypanocidal drug use in treatment failure in cattle in
five sites within Lamu District. Cattle were randomly selected and marked for
identification from five selected sites of Lamu. Blood was collected from the ear
vein using heparinised capillary tubes for parasitological examination of
trypanosomes and (PCV) determination. The presence of trypanosomes was
determined using the micro-haematocrit centrifugation and buffy coat/dark ground
techniques. Blood collected from the jugular vein was used to determine.the serum
drug level by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). The
type of trypanocidal drug used, personnel administering the drug, the time when
the cattle were treated last were recorded from the farmers. The cELISA for
determination of drug levels in the serum after extraction in O.lM borax at pH 9.7
was carried out for the three 'drugs (diminazene, homidium and isometamedium).
The analysis of serum prepared from blood samples collected from the five sites in
Lamu district showed an overall treatment failure of 12.9%. This study has
demonstrated that drug levels can be used to evaluate treatment failure and drug
use which can contribute to efficacy of trypanocidal drug. The study has also
established that the three types of trypanocidal drugs are being used in the area,
both the veterinary personnel and farmers administer the drug and the drugs were
administered intra-muscularly. There was a small percentage (20%) of treatment
due to drug resistance, there were also few cases of mis-diagnosis. Treatment
failure was largely due to under-dosing. Overall: livestock keepers under dosed 135
animals as compared to 52 by Veterinary personnel. There was a big percentage
(81.2%) of drug levels below therapeutic level. The study has demonstrated further
that cELISA method can be used in the verification of trypanocidal drug use as a
cause of treatment failure.
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