THE PmOPLASIvL\SIDA 



309 



Diagnosis : Diagnosis is based upon 

 finding the parasites in the erythrocytes 

 in stained blood smears or in stained 

 smears made from the lymph nodes or 

 spleen. Differential diagnosis between 

 East Coast fever and the gonderioses is 

 not always easy, however, and depends 

 upon knowledge of the geographic distribu- 

 tion of the parasites, symptomatology, 

 pathology, pathogenicity, degree of para- 

 sitemia, epidemiology and results of cross- 

 immunity tests. The last is the best test 

 in case of doubt. 



Cultivation : Tsur-Tchernomoretz, 

 Neitz, and Pols (1957) cultivated T. parva 

 up to 15 days in ox spleen, liver or lymph 

 node tissue cultures. The Koch bodies 

 developed during the first 10 days but then 

 died out. Brocklesby and Hawking (1958) 

 also grew T. parva in tissue cultures, but 

 could not maintain them more than 14 days. 

 The parasites occurred mostly in lymph- 

 oid cells. 



Treatment : No drug is effective 

 against T. parva once signs of disease have 

 appeared. However, chlortetracycline and 

 oxytetracycline seem to prevent clinical 

 disease if given repeatedly during the in- 

 cubation and reaction periods, and treated 

 animals become solidly immune (Neitz, 

 1957; Barnett, 1956). 



Prevention and Control : These depend 

 upon tick control and quarantine measures. 

 Immunization by intravenous injection of a 

 suspension of spleen and lymph node ma- 

 terial from affected animals was practiced 

 in South Africa around 1912 to 1914, but 

 was then discontinued. 



Repeated, regular dipping of cattle in 

 arsenical dips has been found effective, 

 even tho some arsenic -resistant strains of 

 ticks have appeared. Other dips, such as 

 lindane and toxaphene, have also been used. 



Quarantine measures are also effective 

 in preventing the spread of East Coast fever. 

 In isolated outbreaks, the whole herd may 

 be slaughtered and the farm kept free of 

 cattle for 18 months before restocking. 



Genus GONDERIA Du Toit, 1918 



In this genus the parasites multiply 

 by schizogony (or possibly by a series of 

 binary fissions) in the lymphocytes and 

 finally invade the erythrocytes. The 

 forms in the erythrocytes reproduce by 

 binary fission into 2 or 4 daughter indi- 

 viduals. Infection can be transmitted by 

 blood inoculation, and recovered animals 

 are premunized. 



GONDERIA ANNULATA 

 (DSCHUNKOWSKY AND LUHS, 



1904) 



Synonyms : Piruplasma aiDiulatuin, 

 Theileria aiimilala, Theileria dispar, 

 Theileria liirkestanica. Theileria sergenti. 



Disease : Tropical gonderiosis, trop- 

 ical theileriosis, tropical piroplasmosis, 

 Egyptian fever, Mediterranean Coast fever. 



Hosts : Ox, zebu, water buffalo. In 

 addition, an American bison in the Cairo 

 zoo died of a natural infection (Carpano, 

 1937). 



Location : Lymphocytes, erythro- 

 cytes. 



Geographic Distribution : North 

 Africa, southern Europe, southern USSR, 

 India, western China. 



Prevalence : Tropical gonderiosis is 

 one of the most important diseases of cat- 

 tle in North Africa, southeastern Europe, 

 southern USSR and Asia. 



Morphology : The forms in the ery- 

 throcytes are predominantly (70 to 80%) 

 round or oval, but may also be rod- 

 shaped, comma-shaped or even anaplasma- 

 like. The round forms are 0. 5 to 1. 5/i in 

 diameter, the oval ones about 2. by 0. 6|i , 

 the comma-shaped ones about 1. 6 by 0. 5/1, 

 and the anaplasma-like forms 0. 5ji in 

 diameter. Binary fission with the forma- 

 tion of 2 daughter individuals or quadruple 

 fission with the formation of 4 individuals 

 in the form of a cross takes place. 



The Koch bodies in the lymphocytes 

 of the spleen and lymph nodes, or free in 

 these organs, are similar to those of T. 

 parva; they average 8 jll in diameter but 



