Visiting South Africa as a Parasitologist and a Veterinary Surgeon

James D. Kenworthy

The country of South Africa is as big as north-west Europe. Johannesburg is the biggest city, Pretoria is the capital and the conference was held near East London in the Eastern Cape province.

Mr. James Kenworthy’s route around the Eastern Cape during the end of the first week, which included visiting a game farm and a community involved in the National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA) and research in the PARASOL project.

Some of the PARASOL research group representing six countries at Trennery’s Hotel after the three-day conference.

In the middle of the first week following the conference some of the group visited a game farm. This male impala needed to be culled to keep the population balanced. The hordes of parasitologists descended on the carcass for parasite investigation. No roundworms (nematodes) were found and just one tapeworm (cestode), which was very surprising.

Dr. Jan van Wyk looking through intestinal contents from the impala for parasites.

Prof. Jozef Vercruysse holding the sole parasite found in the impala, the head of a tapeworm (cestode).

Dr. Faffa Malan dissecting liver from the impala looking for parasitic damage. The FAMACHA system, observing anaemia in sheep and culling susceptible animals, was named after him as the Faffa Malan Chart. On the right is Mr. Given Nkomo, a production advisor with the National Wool Growers’ Association who works in the area I visited.

At the end of the first week I visited a community several hours drive away. This is the sign outside the Saphukanduku shearing shed. The local community has the largest type face, a good sign of their ownership of the project.

On the left is Mr. Sibabalwe Nkubungu, a diploma student of animal production at the University of Pretoria.

Mrs. Felicia Maja, the secretary of the Saphukanduku NWGA, she is wearing traditional Xhosa clothes and white make-up.

Mr. Douglas Kohlai, the chairman of the Saphukanduku NWGA. He is 72-years-old and wished to retire but the community trust him and do not want anyone to replace him so he cannot give up yet.

A ram recovering from blowfly strike, the adult flies have laid eggs in the skin around the shoulders, these hatch into maggots which eat into the skin and can cause a nasty toxic shock.

Examples of Fort Dodge and Intervet pharmaceutical company de-wormers (anthelmintics), Pfizer had a large advert up in the shearing shed. The class of drug is indicated in very small type. One tactic to slow development of resistance is to rotate between types of anthelmintic; NWGA is involved in explaining the importance of these small digits.

Before NWGA existed the shearers would bunch all qualities of wool together and receive a poor price. This table in the shearing shed is used to spread out the fleece from one sheep, the dirty sections (dags) are cut out and then the fleece is placed in different bays on the far wall according to quality. These practices have greatly increased the price received from the middlemen.

The wool is compressed in this wool press and packed into large packs, too heavy to lift by hand. Most of this Merino wool goes to Italy and the Czech republic.

A dipping tank to kill external parasites (ectoparasites), the sheep are pushed into the tank so the fleece is soaked while they scramble out through the channel. Locating the dip on the slope is clever because while the dipped sheep are waiting, the solution drains back down the concrete slope into the well, reducing waste.

The sheep are communally grazed but have been identified into groups with different colour ear tags. Each group is sorted when they arrive at the shearing shed into separate pens.

Different parasite controls are used with different groups, the red tagged group are treated according to the FAMACHA system, while another group have frequent anthelmintic treatments. Part of the purpose is to look at whether this affects development of resistance and whether animals that are overly affected by worms can be culled to produce flocks that require less drug use.

Faecal samples are taken using a “poop scoop” which will be investigated for parasites and their sensitivity or resistance to anthelmintic. This is part of the international PARASOL project (Novel solutions for the sustainable control of nematodes in ruminants).

The secretary has the best job as she can keep in the shade while taking the records of ear tag colour and number, body condition score and FAMACHA score. According to those scores and the group the animal is in, she informs the handlers whether or not to treat.

Holding the famous FAMACHA card close to the conjunctival membrane of the eye reveals the extent of anaemia in the sheep. The score is from 1 (red, normal) to 5 (white, moribund). The primary cause of anaemia in South Africa is a blood-feeding roundworm (Haemonchus contortus) and so a pale membrane indicates the balance between the sheep’s ability to cope with the worm (resilience) and how much of an infection it is carrying. Pale animals are more likely to benefit from anthelmintic treatment.

Feeling around the spine of the lower back (lumbar vertebrae) for the amount of muscle and fat provides a body condition score. The scores are from 1 (emaciated) to 5 (very fat). If a low body condition score (thin) coincides with a high FAMACHA score (anaemic) then the cause of the emaciation is probably the blood-feeding parasite (Haemonchus contortus) and treatment is important.

The view from Saphukanduku.

A dog dying from distemper virus. We stopped at the shop for drinks and then heard about this case. There is no treatment at this late stage so the dog was euthanased.

In my second week I visited the vet school in South Africa. This van is used for veterinary students at the University of Pretoria to go out to the villages and treat animals that are presented. In the several years of the degree this only occurs on two days for each student, with the remainder of their course being in international standard facilities.

A dog suffering from skin infection known as a “hot spot” (pyoderma) due to high temperatures and moist conditions suitable for bacterial growth.

On a happier note the giraffes were very happy to pose at the game farm.

The fortnight was a very worthwhile experience for me, particularly as I am thinking of working in Africa
in the future and was able to gain some idea of the opportunities and difficulties that would entail.

Community visit -  Saphukanduku JK (PDF, 2.84 Mb)

All Pictures: © James D. Kenworthy