Trypanosoma evansi infection in mainland Spain

An outbreak of Trypanosoma evansi infection that occurred in mainland Spain is described. The outbreak occurred on an equine and camel farm to which dromedary camels from an infected area of the Canary islands had recently been introduced. One of these camels developed clinical signs and T. evansi was discovered in a blood smear examination. The herd was evaluated in order to determine the extent of the disease. The results showed that 76% of the camels, 35% of the donkeys and 2% of the horses were affected. The animals were isolated and treated using Cymelarsan (R) (0.5 mg/kg). After treatment, three blood analysis using parasitological methods revealed negative results. This is the first T evansi outbreak to have occurred in mainland Spain and the second in mainland Europe, both occurring after the introduction of dromedary camels from the Canary Islands. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.