Observations on Trypanosoma boueti (Protozoa) parasitic in the skink Mabuya striata (Reptilia) and the sandfly Sergentomyia bedfordi in Ethiopia

Trypanosomes resembling Trypanosoma boueti were found in skinks Mabuya striata at two Ethiopian localities. Sandflies Sergentomyia bedfordi fed readily on the skinks in the laboratory and developed a typical posterior station infection of epimastigote flagellates. During a concomitant bacterial infection the flagellates were excreted. Similar infections were found in wild sandflies, which were thought to transmit the parasite when they are eaten.