Growth And Testicular Characteristics Of The Indigenous Nigerian Native And Exotic Largewhite X Landrace Boars Experimentally Infected With

ABSTRACT

Tolerance to African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) among several animal species involves a

wide milieu of factors which modulate the animal’s response to the disease and is considered a

breed attribute. To investigate the effect of breed on tolerance/resilience to trypanosome

infection on pubertal boars, nine (9) Nigerian Native and nine (9) Large-White x Landrace

crossbreed boars were experimentally inoculated with laboratory samples of Trypanosoma

brucei brucei. Their comparative responses with regard to clinical symptoms, growth parameters,

histopathological and histometrical features of the testis, Sertoli and germ cell numbers and

spermatogenic output including cell ratios and daily sperm production were studied over two

study periods- 63 days post infection (63d p.i.) and 98 days post infection (98d p.i.). Results

obtained indicated that infected boars of both breeds were clearly parasitaemic in the first study

period, with a significant (P