Influence of Nutrition on Growth and Reproduction of Trypanosome Infected Small Ruminants

Research Project

Project ID: R6140

Title	Influence of nutrition on the growth and reproductive performance of trypanosome infected small ruminants
Species	Goat, Sheep
Commodity	Draught power, Meat
Livestock Keeper Group	Crop Livestock Farmers
Production System	Semi-Arid Crop Livestock
Country or Region	The Gambia
Research Theme	Nutrition-Disease Interaction, Policy
Research Approach	Strategic Research
Funding Agency	DFID Livestock Production Programme
Overview	This project looked at the influence of nutrition on growth and reproductive performance of trypanosome infected small ruminants. It was established that nutritional supplementation is less important during the breeding period than trypanosome control measures, this could have important policy implications in terms of better targeting of limited financial resources.

Summary

Trypanosomosis (Trypanosomiasis), which is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, can seriously impair reproductive performance of small ruminants but recent research shows that improved nutrition may reduce its pathogenic impact.

Small ruminants play a crucial role in West African farming systems. Work in The Gambia and elsewhere has shown that trypanosomosis can have deleterious effects on the reproductive performance of both male and female animals. It has also been recently demonstrated that nutritional status can markedly influence the pathogenic impact of trypanosomosis. This project examines the influence of nutrition on the productivity and reproductive performance of small ruminants infected with trypanosomosis as a contribution to the development of appropriate strategies for improving the performance of small ruminants in trypanosome-endemic areas of sub-Saharan Africa .

Primary Relevance	Low - High
Feeding and Nutrition
Animal Health
Commodities and Markets
Other Husbandry
Policy Relevance

Documents

	Final Technical Report
	Improving the Performance of Trypanosome-Infected Smallstock
	Effects of Trypanosoma congolense infection and diet on puberty, age at first lambing and haematology changes in Djallonké ewe lambs

The disease appeared to have no effect on litter size – or outcomes generally – of pregnancies that were already established at the time of infection. However, trypanosomosis reduced conception rates at planned breeding times and, under the conditions of the project, nutritional supplementation had no beneficial influence on conception rate or pregnancy rate. Nutritional supplementation did, however, have beneficial effects on litter size and lamb growth rate. Also, it advanced the onset of puberty whilst infection with trypanosomosis delayed it. Supplementation of infected animals counteracted some of the adverse effects of infection on age at puberty.