Zweygarth, E., Mihok, S., Majiwa, P.A.O. & Kaminsky, R. (1995) A new Nannomonas-type trypanosome; isolation, in vitro cultivation and partial characterization. pp. 188-190 in Sinniah, B. (Ed) Proceedings of the first international congress of parasitology and tropical medicine on trend in the management and control of tropical diseases. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine.

Within the subgenus Nannomonas, Trypanosoma congolense and T. simiae are the only recognized species. Here, the isolation and partial characterization of a new Nannomonas-type trypanosome from a Glossina pallidipes caught at the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, Tsavo West National Park in Kenya is described. A trypanosome culture was initiated with metacyclics derived from a single tsetse. Organisms were propagated axenically as trypomastigote forms at 35°C initially in the presence of bovine aortic endothelial cells. Culture-derived bloodstream trypomastigotes were transformed into procyclics at 26°C which further on transformed into epimastigotes and finally into pig-infective metacyclics. On Giemsa-stained slides the organisms had a marginal kinetoplast close to the posterior end. The undulating membrane was well developed in some organisms but inconspicuous in others. The undulating membrane extended to the tip of the flagellum. A free flagellum seemed to be present only in some trypanosomes. The parasites caused a very mild infection in domestic pigs accompanied by a low parasitaemia. Infections were either self-limited or could be cured by treatment with the trypanocidal drug, diminazene aceturate. The trypanosomes did not infect mice, goats or steers. DNA from the trypanosome isolate hybridized with DNA probes for the Nannomonas subgenus; it did not hybridize with DNA probes for Kilifi-type and Savannah-type T. congolense, T. simiae, or T. brucei.