Abstract
BackgroundBovine babesiosis, mainly caused by Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, is a huge threat to the livestock industry. In Indonesia, the current distribution of the disease is unknown due to a lack of scientific study.MethodsIn the present study, 487 blood samples were collected from cattle with different breeding and age groups in a broad geographical area across the archipelago. The presence of antibodies and current infections of B. bovis and B. bigemina were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunochromatographic test (ICT), and nested PCR (nPCR) targeting B. bovis SBP-4 and B. bigemina RAP-1a genes. Sequence analysis was performed to the amplicon of B. bovis SBP-4, B. bigemina RAP-1a, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal RNA of both Babesia species.ResultsIn total, B. bovis positives were detected by ELISA, single-ICT, dual-ICT and nPCR in 340 (69.8%), 317 (65.1%), 307 (63.0%) and 247 (50.7%) samples, respectively. For B. bigemina, the positive samples were detected in 134 (27.5%), 130 (26.7%), 127 (26.1%) and 93 (19.1%), respectively. Furthermore, mixed infections were found in 125 (25.7%), 113 (23.2%), 109 (22.4%) and 52 (10.7%) samples, respectively, which occurred only by chance and were not influenced by additional factors. The obtained nucleotide sequences of B. bovis SBP-4 and B. bigemina RAP-1a genes showed a high homology with other isolates from different countries. Further nucleotide sequence analysis using ITS region showed a great genetic diversity of B. bovis isolates among sampling locations; a lower diversity was found in B. bigemina ITS isolates.ConclusionsThese data revealed the current distribution of B. bovis and B. bigemina infection in cattle in Indonesia. The rate of infection varied among sampling locations, cattle breeds and age groups. Furthermore, B. bovis ITS isolates from Indonesia were found to be more genetically diverse than B. bigemina ITS isolates. The data presented in this study are necessary to develop an effective strategy for controlling the disease in the country.
Highlights
Bovine babesiosis, mainly caused by Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, is a huge threat to the livestock industry
We found no positive case in Jombang and Lamongan by bigELISA and immunochromatographic test (ICT) for B. bigemina detection (bigICT); 1 (2.5%) serum sample from Lamongan was seropositive by dual-ICT
For B. bigemina, only 36 (7.4%) samples were positive by both methods, while 98 (20.1%) samples were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) only, 57 (11.7%) samples were positive by nested PCR (nPCR) only, and 296 (60.8%) samples remained negative by both methods
Summary
Mainly caused by Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, is a huge threat to the livestock industry. Babesia parasites create and stabilize their intracellular environment to make it suitable during their life-cycle It involves the releasing of numerous molecules by apical complex of the parasite in all stage of asexual replication, including cell invasion, intracellular developments, and egress from the cell. The protein is characterized by its abundance in the cytoplasm in the late stage of intracellular infection and released into blood circulation It has a greater possibility of reacting with the host immune systems during rupture of infected cells and has potential as serological diagnostic target [6]. RAP-1a is a highly conserved gene among B. bigemina isolates that has been utilized in several studies [9,10,11]. The application of specific and sensitive diagnostic methods is necessary to accurately determine the presence of Babesia parasites during routine surveillance
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