AN OUTBREAK OF EAST-COAST FEVER IN A HERD OF SANGA CATTLE IN LUTALE, CENTRAL PROVINCE OF ZAMBIA

An outbreak of East Coast fever (ECF) occurred in an experimental herd of Sanga cattle maintained under a traditional rangeland grazing syst em at Lutale, Central Province of Zambia. Two groups of cattle had bee n kept under different tick-control regimens for several years prior t o the introduction of the disease and epidemiological information on t he outbreak were recorded. Weekly tick control was not sufficient to a chieve full protection against Theileria parva infection. Systematic b ody temperature monitoring seems to be a good method for early detecti on of infection resulting in an important reduction of the case fatali ty rate after treatment with anti-theilerial drugs. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.