The patho-physiology of Trypanosoma congolense in Scottish Blackface sheep: influence of diet on digestive function

Abstract

The influence of types of roughage, barley straw (diet B) versus lucerne hay (diet L), on the patho-physiology of a T. congolense infection was compared in eight pairs of Scottish Blackface male twin lambs. One animal of each twin pair was infected and the other used as a pair-fed control. Voluntary food intake, body weight, digestive function, various blood haematological and biochemical measurements were made. Voluntary organic matter intake decreased significantly after the T. congolense infection, the decrease being greater in the diet L group than in the diet B group lambs (P Packed cell volume (PCV) was significantly lower before infection in the animals given diet B (P Diet B resulted in higher plasma cholesterol (P It was concluded that the patho-physiological effects of the T. congolense infection in the Scottish Blackface lambs were affected by the type of roughage offered, but that these effects were additive rather than interactive to the effects of infection