35 
TRYPANOSOMIASIS OF CAMELS IN RUSSIAN 
TURKESTAN 1 . 
By W. L. YAKIMOFF and others. 
(With Plates III—V.) 
I. INTRODUCTION. 
The existence of trypanosomiasis amongst the ruminants of Turkestan has 
been suspected for many years, but the first definite record is that of Luhs 
(1906) who discovered Trypanosoma theileri in the blood of cattle in Trans¬ 
caucasia. This was followed by the discovery of the same parasite in the 
Trans-Baikal Region (Dudukaloff), the Don Province (Stolnikoff) and in the 
Pskov and Vitebsk Governments (Yakimoff and Bekensky). Wrublewski 
found this trypanosome in the blood of bison from the Bieloviejskv forests 
and later it was discovered by Yakimoff in Turkestan. 
Feinschmidt (1912) was the first to record the presence of trypanosomiasis 
amongst the camels of the Astrakhan Government and the following year 
Yakimoff and his collaborators (1913) confirmed this discovery. Schuke- 
witsch (1914) also observed trypanosomes in the blood of camels from the 
Ural Region. 
From the foregoing records it will be seen that the presence of trypanoso¬ 
miasis in Russia is far more extensive than had been supposed, and the 
number of animals suffering from it is gradually increasing. 
II. THE DISTRIBUTION OF TRYPANOSOMIASIS OF 
CAMELS IN TURKESTAN 2 . 
The proximity of Turkestan to Afghanistan and India, where surra occurs 
in camels, led us to suppose that camel trypanosomiasis would be most likely 
to occur in the southern latitudes of our country. Accordingly, enquiries 
were made amongst the local veterinary surgeons, but with one exception 
without result. In this case a veterinary surgeon, Skvortzoff, of the Tashkent 
District, stated that he had heard of the occurrence of a camel disease in the 
district, called by the natives “Surah,” and attributed by them to the 
animals feeding on a certain kind of plant. We first examined the blood of 
1 From the laboratory of the George Speyerhaus Expedition for the study of tropical diseases 
in man and animals in Turkestan. 
2 By W. L. Yakimoff, N. T. Shokhor, S. D. Veniaminoff, A. P. Demidoff, A. K. Karpoff, 
P. A. Novikoff, K, N, Semenoff, Z. A. Ivanoff, T. A. Kolpakoff, S. T. Saikowitsch, and M. F. 
Komiloff. 
3—2 
