Prevalence of Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bigemina and Theileria annulata infections among cattle in Sargodha District, Pakistan

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of tick-borne diseases in cattle in Sargodha district, Pakistan. Samples were randomly collected each month from selected small holders (n = 30) having 1 to 10 cattle and private livestock farms (n = 4) having ≥ 50 cattle. Indigenous and crossbred cattle of both sexes were sampled. Microscopic examination of the Giemsa stained blood smears revealed an overall prevalence of haemoparasites as 26.86%. Anaplasma marginale was the most prevalent (9.71%) hemoparasite of cattle followed by Theileria annulata (6.86%) and Babesia bigemina (6.57%), respectively. Crossbred cattle (29.1%) were more susceptible to tick-borne diseases (TBDs) as compared to the indigenous cattle (17.7%). Sex wise prevalence indicated that female animals (26%) were more prone to TBDs than males (17%). The highest prevalence of tick-borne diseases was recorded in July except for T. annulata which had a peak prevalence in June. The prevalence of tick-transmitted diseases was higher in small holders (31.3%) than large livestock farms (17.5%). Chi square analysis indicated a significant association among different breeds, seasons and farm size to selected tick-borne diseases. Whereas, the difference between different age groups and gender were not statistically significant. It was concluded that TBDs are prevalent in the Sargodha district, Pakistan. There is a need for further epidemiological investigations using advanced serological and molecular techniques. Key words: Anaplasma, Babesia, Theileria, Sargodha, cattle.