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Summary

Trypanosomosis is a widespread issue in animals, resulting in significant economic losses, particularly in Africa. In Spain, only one pathogenic species, Trypanosoma evansi, has been identified. Since its first detection in a dromedary camel in the Canary Islands in 1997, cases of the disease, known as Surra, have continued to be diagnosed, leading to various studies and control efforts. Due to the lack of a comprehensive database consolidating the most relevant data on T. evansi in Spain, the development of a national atlas was deemed necessary, with a focus on the Canary Islands. To develop the atlas, a repository was created that compiled data and documents from 1997 to 2022. Information from different sources, including georeferenced locations and blood test results, was extracted and integrated into a comprehensive database. The analysis of 31 sources provided 99 georeferenced locations and 12,433 animal samples. Out of these samples, 601 were found to be positive for T. evansi, mostly from dromedaries. The Card Agglutination Test for T. evansi (CATT/T. evansi) was the most commonly used diagnostic method, showing a higher prevalence for all tested animal species. The positive cases were primarily concentrated in the Canary Islands, specifically in the eastern islands, with a few isolated cases in the province of Alicante in the Iberian Peninsula. This atlas serves as a comprehensive overview of the history and prevalence of Surra in Spain and provides a valuable tool for future control initiatives and research. However, further studies are still needed to investigate potential hosts other than camelids and their associated transmission vectors.

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