Diagnostic Techniques employed by MUSCA

1. Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosoma evansi - an antibody-detection assays, is a rapid direct agglutination test which uses formaldehyde-fixed, comassie-stained, freeze dried trypanosomes of T. evansi

2. Blood Smear Examination. This examination uses a drop of blood on a completely degreased slide 1 cm from the edge. The edge of another slide is placed on the first, at an angle of 30-45°. The angled slide is moved along the first with a steady movement drawing the blood evenly on the first slide. The blood is immediately dried in the air, fixed with methyl alcohol and stained. The most common stain used is Giemsa stain.

3. Wet Mount. A drop of blood is placed on a clean, degreased slide, covered with cover glass and immediately examined under the microscope with x20 or x40 dry objective.

4. Microhematocrit Centrifugation Technique. Blood is collected into heparinized capillary tubes (75 x 1.5mm), which is then sealed at the dry end and centrifuged, sealed end down, at 1200rpm for 10 minutes. In MHCT, 2 pieces of glass (25 x 10 x 1.2 mm) are glued to a slide and the capillary tube is placed between them. A cover slip is placed on the top at the level of the buffy coat-plasma interface, where motile trypanosomes are said to be concentrated. The space around the part of the tube is flooded with water and the buffy coat area is examined under the microscope (x100-200)

5. Inoculation into laboratory animals. Blood treated with sodium heparin or EDTA was inoculated intraperitoneally into mice (0.25-0.5ml). Parasitemia in mice was followed every 3 days post inoculation until day 28 by means of wet blood films from blood taken from the tail tip.

6. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).A test performed to evaluate false-negative results to the ELISA


7.Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay (ELISA) - a sensitive immunoassay that uses an enzyme linked to an antibody as a marker for the detection of a specific protein, especially an antigen or antibody.

NOTES: ELISA and PCR is not part of the routine diagnostic procedure but MUSCA is technically capable of developing the test kit for ELISA given the proper logistics.

OIE List B Disease

Surra or Trypanosomosis is listed in the International Animal Health Code of OIE (Office International Des Epizooties) as List B disease which means disease considered to be of socio-economic and public health importance within countries which are significant in the international trade of animals and animal products.

Clinical Signs and Symptoms of Surra

- Pyrexia directly associated with parasitemia, together with progressive anemia
- General malaise or loss of condition
- Abortion
- Reduced milk production
- Edema,particularly of lower parts of the body
- Urticarial plaques & petechial hemorrhages of serous membranes
- In chronic cases,there is high mortality due to poor appetite, poor nutrition,and other existing stress factors.

Transmission of T.evansi

The transmission of Trypanosoma evansi is through the bite of blood-sucking dipterous flies of the genus Tabanus.

These are known as horseflies or breeze flies. Tabanids are very determined feeder, going from host to host perversing despite disturbances. It takes five seconds of feeding time for a tabanus to become infected and it takes approximately the same amount of time for that infected fly to transmit the organism to a desired host.



The female flies are the well-known blood-suckers. There is no cyclical development occurs in biting flies because T.evansi does not survive for more than 10-15 minutes in the proboscis of the fly.They enter the blood stream and multiply by binary fission.



T. evansi can be transmitted through animal transfer from town to town, animal auctions in market day, tribal feasts such as horse fights, race tracks and arrival of new animal to the herd.

Trypanosoma evansi: the agent of Surra

Griffith Evans, a British Veterinarian discovered Trypanosoma evansi in 1880 in India. It was an important discovery since it opened up the study of other protozoan diseases of both man and animals.

Trypanosoma evansi is leaf-like in shape and has single flagellum attached to the body of organizm by an undulating membrane. The nucleus is elongated and subterminal kinetoplast.

Photo courtesy of Murdoch University

Surra: a dreadful disease

Surra or Trypanosomosis is a disease caused by a trypanosome. Trypanosoma evansi is the most widely distributed of the pathogenic animal trypanosome affecting domesticated livestock in Asia, Africa and South America.

Surra affects wide range of hosts including horses, buffaloes, cattles, sheeps, goats, dogs and pigs.Its principal mechanical vector is a blood-sucking fly that belong to genus Tabanus.

About MUSCA

MUSCA or Mindanao Unified Surra Control Approach is an offshoot of the comprehensive Surra Control Program of Region XI (composed of Davao City, Davao Oriental, Davao Del Sur, Compostela Valley and Davao Del Norte). The alarming increase of Surra incidence and outbreaks in the neighboring regions led to an agreement involving the Mindanao regions to develop the program to control Surra or Trypanosomosis.


MUSCA involved partnership and collaborations with Department of Agriculture, Mindanao Regional Field Units, Central Mindanao University-College of Veterinary Medicine (CMU-CVM) and University of Southern Mindanao-College of Veterinary Medicine (USM-CVM).


MUSCA had partnered with Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Food and Agriculture Organization in the previous years.


The over-all objective of MUSCA is to control Surra and establish a Trypanosomosis-free Mindanao.