A financial analysis of treatment strategies for Trypanosoma evansi in the Brazilian Pantanal.

The Brazilian Pantanal is a 138,000 km2 tropical seasonal wetland located in the center of South America bordering Bolivia and Paraguay. The Pantanal contains approximately 1100 cattle ranches, 3 million cattle, 49,000 horses and a unique diversity of wildlife. Cattle ranching is the most important economic activity in the Pantanal. This study explores the direct financial impacts of the adoption of seven treatment strategies for the control of Trypanosoma evansi in the Brazilian Pantanal. T. evansi adversely affects the health of the horse population in the region. Horses are indispensable to the cattle ranching industry in the Pantanal. Estimated costs include risk of infection, costs of diagnosis, alternative treatments, collecting animals for treatment, and costs of animal losses. The estimated total cost of T. evansi to the Pantanal region's cattle ranchers is about US$2.4 million and 6462 horses/yr. Results indicate that one preventive and two curative treatment strategies are financially justifiable. The best available technology for the treatment of T. evansi from an economic perspective is a curative treatment employed year-round. This treatment represents an annual net benefit of more than US$2 million or US$1845/ranch and spares about 5783 horses. It represents an annual net benefit of over US$200,000 and 600 horses relative to the currently most widely adopted strategy.