Abstract
Aim:The present study aimed to detect Babesia ovis and Babesia motasi in the blood samples of sheep and goats from Northwest of Iran by the semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.Materials and Methods:A total of 166 whole blood samples (including 123 sheep and 43 goats) were collected. In the first stage, the PCR was performed to amplify a piece of 18S rRNA gene of Babesia and Theileria genera. Then, semi-nested PCR was carried out on all PCR products to differentiate B. ovis and B. motasi.Results:The PCR indicated that totally, 19 (11.44%) out of 166 samples were positive for Babesia or Theileria spp. The semi-nested PCR showed that 38 samples (22.89%) were positive only for B. ovis. No significant association was found between the infection rate of B. ovis and age, gender and species of animals.Conclusion:In the present study, there was no evidence for B. motasi infection in small ruminants from Northwest of Iran. Therefore, B. ovis was the main causative agent of ovine Babesiosis in this region.
Highlights
In small ruminants, babesiosis is associated with intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites such as Babesia ovis, Babesia motasi, and Babesia crassa which is characterized more commonly by fever, anemia, hemoglobinuria, and icterus [1,2]
In the present study, there was no evidence for B. motasi infection in small ruminants from Northwest of Iran
As shown in Figure-3, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the primers (P1B-F/P2B-R) indicated that 19 (11.44%) out of 166 blood samples were infected to Babesia and Theileria spp. of which 16 (9.64%) and 3 (1.8%) samples were related to sheep and goats, respectively
Summary
Babesiosis is associated with intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites such as Babesia ovis, Babesia motasi, and Babesia crassa which is characterized more commonly by fever, anemia, hemoglobinuria, and icterus [1,2]. The most pathogenic species of Babesia in small ruminants is B. ovis. Ixodid ticks including Rhipicephalus and Haemaphysalis are the main vector of B. ovis and B. motasi, respectively [2]. The identification of Babesia spp. is commonly performed by microscopic examination of Giemsa stained blood smears. Serological procedures can be used for detecting subclinical infections of Babesia spp. These methods are not specific due to false positive and negative results and cross-reactivity with other species of Babesia [6]
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