Trypanosoma evansi, the agent of “surra,” is a salivarian trypanosome, originating from Africa. It is thought to derive fromTrypanosoma bruceiby deletion of the maxicircle kinetoplastic DNA (genetic material required for cyclical development in tsetse flies). It is mostly mechanically transmitted by tabanids and stomoxes, initially to camels, in sub-Saharan area. The disease spread from North Africa towards the Middle East, Turkey, India, up to 53° North in Russia, across all South-East Asia, down to Indonesia and the Philippines, and it was also introduced by the conquistadores into Latin America. It can affect a very large range of domestic and wild hosts including camelids, equines, cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and other carnivores, deer, gazelles, and elephants. It found a new large range of wild and domestic hosts in Latin America, including reservoirs (capybaras) and biological vectors (vampire bats). Surra is a major disease in camels, equines, and dogs, in which it can often be fatal in the absence of treatment, and exhibits nonspecific clinical signs (anaemia, loss of weight, abortion, and death), which are variable from one host and one place to another; however, its immunosuppressive effects interfering with intercurrent diseases or vaccination campaigns might be its most significant and questionable aspect.

This paper reviews the transmission modes ofTrypanosoma evansi. Its worldwide distribution is attributed to mechanical transmission. While the role of tabanids is clear, we raise questions on the relative role ofHaematobiasp. and the possible role ofStomoxyssp. in delayed transmission. A review of the available trypanocidal drugs and their efficacy in various host species is useful for understanding how they interact in disease epidemiology, which is complex. Although there are similarities with other mechanically transmitted trypanosomes,T. evansihas a more complex epidemiology due to the diversity of its hosts and vectors. The impact of clinical and subclinical disease is difficult to establish. A model was developed for buffaloes in the Philippines, which could be transferred to other places and livestock systems. SinceTrypanosoma evansiwas reported in humans, further research is required to investigate its zoonotic potential. Surra remains a potentially emerging disease that is a threat to Australia, Spain, and France. A number of questions about the disease have yet to be resolved. This brief review of the basic knowledge ofT. evansisuggests that there is renewed interest in the parasite, which is spreading and has a major economic impact.

Trypanosoma brucei is a kinetoplastid flagellate, the agent of human sleeping sickness and ruminant nagana in Africa. Kinetoplastid flagellates contain their eponym kinetoplast DNA (kDNA), consisting of two types of interlocked circular DNA molecules: scores of maxicircles and thousands of minicircles. Maxicircles have typical mitochondrial genes, most of which are translatable only after RNA editing. Minicircles encode guide RNAs, required for decrypting the maxicircle transcripts. The life cycle of T. brucei involves a bloodstream stage (BS) in vertebrates and a procyclic stage (PS) in the tsetse fly vector. Partial [dyskinetoplastidy (Dk)] or total [akinetoplastidy (Ak)] loss of kDNA locks the trypanosome in the BS form. Transmission between vertebrates becomes mechanical without PS and tsetse mediation, allowing the parasite to spread outside the African tsetse belt. Trypanosoma equiperdum and Trypanosoma evansi are agents of dourine and surra, diseases of horses, camels, and water buffaloes. We have characterized representative strains of T. equiperdum and T. evansi by numerous molecular and classical parasitological approaches. We show that both species are actually strains of T. brucei , which lost part (Dk) or all (Ak) of their kDNA. These trypanosomes are not monophyletic clades and do not qualify for species status. They should be considered two subspecies, respectively T. brucei equiperdum and T. brucei evansi , which spontaneously arose recently. Dk/Ak trypanosomes may potentially emerge repeatedly from T. brucei .

Two key biological features distinguish Trypanosoma evansi from the T. brucei group: independence from the tsetse fly as obligatory vector, and independence from the need for functional mitochondrial DNA (kinetoplast or kDNA). In an effort to better understand the molecular causes and consequences of these differences, we sequenced the genome of an akinetoplastic T. evansi strain from China and compared it to the T. b. brucei reference strain. The annotated T. evansi genome shows extensive similarity to the reference, with 94.9% of the predicted T. b. brucei coding sequences (CDS) having an ortholog in T. evansi, and 94.6% of the non-repetitive orthologs having a nucleotide identity of 95% or greater. Interestingly, several procyclin-associated genes (PAGs) were disrupted or not found in this T. evansi strain, suggesting a selective loss of function in the absence of the insect life-cycle stage. Surprisingly, orthologous sequences were found in T. evansi for all 978 nuclear CDS predicted to represent the mitochondrial proteome in T. brucei, although a small number of these may have lost functionality. Consistent with previous results, the F₁F_O-ATP synthase γ subunit was found to have an A281 deletion, which is involved in generation of a mitochondrial membrane potential in the absence of kDNA. Candidates for CDS that are absent from the reference genome were identified in supplementary de novo assemblies of T. evansi reads. Phylogenetic analyses show that the sequenced strain belongs to a dominant group of clonal T. evansi strains with worldwide distribution that also includes isolates classified as T. equiperdum. At least three other types of T. evansi or T. equiperdum have emerged independently. Overall, the elucidation of the T. evansi genome sequence reveals extensive similarity of T. brucei and supports the contention that T. evansi should be classified as a subspecies of T. brucei. The single-cell parasite Trypanosoma evansi is the disease-causing trypanosome with the widest geographical distribution. The disease, called surra, has significant economic impact primarily due to infections of cattle, horses, and camels. Morphologically the parasite is indistinguishable from bloodstream stage T. brucei, a parasite causing sleeping sickness in humans and the disease nagana in animals. T. brucei, however, is strictly bound to sub-Saharan Africa where its obligate vector, the tsetse fly, resides. The lack of a complete mitochondrial genome in T. evansi further distinguishes this parasite from T. brucei. Important questions regarding the biology of T. evansi include how it escaped from Africa, whether this has happened more than once, and how exactly it is related to T. brucei. To help answer these questions we have sequenced the T. evansi nuclear genome. Our phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that T. evansi, and the closely related horse parasite T. equiperdum, evolved more than once from T. brucei. We also demonstrate extensive similarity to T. brucei, including the maintenance of numerous genes that T. evansi no longer requires. Therefore, despite the significant functional and pathological differences between T. evansi and T. brucei, our analysis supports the notion that T. evansi is not an independent species.