Parasitic Disease Of Cattle Research Articles

Comparative phenotypic profile of subpopulations of peripheral blood leukocytes in European (Bos taurus taurus) and Zebu cattle (Bos taurus indicus)

Differences in cellular and humoral immunity in Zebu (Bos taurus indicus) and European (B. taurus taurus) cattle breeds, which may be related to differences in resistance or susceptibility to infectious or parasitic diseases, are largely unknown. This study aimed to perform a comparative analysis of innate and adaptive immunity of European (including Holstein, Brown Swiss, and Hereford) and Zebu (including Gir, Nelore, and Guzera) breeds, by assessing their peripheral blood leukocyte profiles (i.e., monocytes, eosinophils, and lymphocytes, including CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, and CD21(+) B cells). Higher frequencies of cells involved in innate immunity were observed in Zebu breeds, particularly monocytes and non-T and non-B cells (13.37 ± 0.9058 and 37.67 ± 1.55, respectively). This finding may contribute to the increased resistance of B. taurus indicus to certain infectious and parasitic diseases. Considering other leukocyte populations in the peripheral blood, among-breed variation was greater than differences between the two subspecies. This study will serve as a basis for further investigations regarding comparative immunology and resistance to infectious and parasitic diseases of cattle.

Study on prevalence of parasitic diseases in cattle in Abyei area – Sudan

This study was designed to compare information on parasitic diseases occurrence in nomadic cattle herds in Abyei area. Collection of data from the veterinary records, Veterinary drug centres, questionnaire and external parasites, faecal and blood samples from animals were carried out for one year. The clinical records showed that, parasitic diseases constitute a major problem, and formed 53% of the total diseases recorded in the clinical records. Veterinary drug centers records also revealed that, within parasitic drugs, anthelmentic drugs were the most used in high quantities constituting 48%, then blood parasites as 37% and external parasites drugs which were 15%. During the wet season, many cattle herds were found in a restricted area sharing the available water and pasture. There were no proper slaughter houses, and also disposal of the offals and carcasses during meat inspection. Cattle parasitic diseases were surveyed at four administrative units in the study area at Muglad, Mayram, Abyei and Dibab. Faecal samples, blood smear, ticks and biting flies were collected. The results of this survey showed the followings: the faecal samples from cattle using floatation and sedimentation methods showed that: Paramphistomum sp. constituted 11.25%,Fasciola gigantica 5.00%, Schistosoma bovis, 1.50%, Oesophagustomum sp. 2.50%, Moniezia sp. 0.63% and Eimeria sp. 4.38%. The occurrence of internal parasites was found higher during the wet season. Blood smear examination revealed that there were Theileria species and Babesia sp. at prevalence rates of 5.88 and 5.15% respectively. Theileria sp. was more prevalent in Muglad compared to other locations, while Babesia was more frequently detected in Mayram. It is noticeable that the overall prevalence is almost the same for the two parasites. Herds were found to be 100% infested with hard ticks. 9 different tick species were identified. They belong to three genera:Amblyomma, Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus. Identified tick species collected from cattle, sheep, goats and camel were: Amblyomma lepidum, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus evertsi, Rhipicephalus simus. simus, Boophilus decoloratus, Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, Hyalomma truncatum and Hyalomma dromedarii. The most abundant tick species were R. sanguineus (38.60%), A. lepidum (29.06%) and H. m. rufipes (27.91%). The total count of ticks showed that A. lepidum and Hyalomma m. rufipes were actively distributed throughout the year among the hosts with relative preference to cattle and camel. Similarly R. sanguineus had a significant distribution in sheep with restricted presence on other animal species. The biting flies identified revealed; Atylotus agrystus, Atylotus fuscipus, Tabanus taeniola and Ancala latipes. The total count showed that, A. agrystus and T. taeniola were actively distributed in the area. Parasitic disease burden as calculated for individual animals revealed that examined animals (100%) were infested with ticks. 64% of the animals were infested with ticks only. The rest showed 32% with one internal parasite and ticks, and 4% with two internal parasites and ticks. The nomads were found scattered during the dry season, whereas they were found in concentration in five locations during the wet season. The main water sources in the wet season are Rahad, Butta, Hafeir and Al Wadi.Whereas in the dry season, the main water sources are Ragaba and Downki and other additional sources such as Hafeir, Id and Bahr Al Arab. The animal owners have a good knowledge about the parasitic diseases and their symptoms, but their knowledge about the treatment and control was not adequate. They ranked the most important diseases as follows: mixed infection (Alk) 71%, Ticks and tick-borne diseases 27%, Biting flies and Trypanosomosis 20%, Foot and mouth disease and Black quarter as 20% each. The majority of the livestock keepers were 58.60% treating their animals several times throughout the year, and they find the drug in the temporary markets and sometimes in the (Farig). Ticks were 61 and 39%for biting flies were found during wet season, whereas, in the dry season 91% ticks and 9% biting flies. Key words: Parasitic diseases, Abyei, Sudan.

Tick-borne parasitic diseases in cattle: current knowledge and prospective risk analysis related to the ongoing evolution in French cattle farming systems.

Parasitic diseases, like babesiosis and theileriosis are transmitted by ticks: their occurrence is therefore linked to the size of the tick stock and the seasonality of the vectors. Babesia divergens bovine babesiosis transmitted by Ixodes ricinus is widespread and often reported in France. Serological prevalence is high, ranging from 20 to 80% according to the farms. Clinical incidence is low: around 0.4% for the whole cattle population. The endemic situation is unstable and clinical cases occur more frequently with farming system modifications. L. ricinus is a tick essentially found in woodlands and so, for the most part, is found in closed rural areas. The situation of the other bovine babesiosis (Babesia major) and theileriosis (Theileria orientalis) is not well documented in France. However, the epidemiology of parasitic diseases is changing, especially because of changes in the environmental characteristics, i.e. both farm and herd management conditions and also climatic conditions. These modifications can provoke an increase in the tick stocks, an increase in the contact rate between cattle and ticks, and an increase in the contact rate between cattle and the wild fauna, especially deer. This results in likely modifications of the endemic situation, with a higher risk of clinical babesiosis in the medium term.

Licking behaviour and environmental contamination arising from pour-on ivermectin for cattle

Pour-on formulations of endectocides are extensively used to treat and control systemic parasitic diseases in cattle, worldwide. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of the natural licking behaviour of cattle on the plasma and faecal disposition of topically administered ivermectin. Twelve Holstein cattle were given one single intravenous (i.v.) (200 μg/kg) and topical (500 μg/kg) administration of ivermectin at a 5-month interval. For the pour-on administration, the animals were allocated into two groups ( n=6): one control group (lickers) and one group where licking was prevented (non-lickers). Ivermectin plasma (total) clearance (270±57.4 ml/kg/day) was very homogeneous among the 12 cattle. In contrast, major differences between lickers and non-lickers were observed following pour-on administration. Prevention of licking resulted in an extended terminal plasma half-life (363±16.2 vs. 154±7.4 h in lickers) and in a lower and less variable systemic availability of ivermectin (19±4.9 vs. 33±18.5% in lickers). More importantly, nearly 70% of the pour-on dose was recovered as parent drug in the faeces of lickers vs. only 6.6% in non-lickers. Altogether, these results are consistent with an oral rather than percutaneous absorption of topical ivermectin in control animals, the non-systemically available fraction of ingested ivermectin providing a major contribution (80%) to the drug faecal output. The consequences of licking on the disposition of pour-on ivermectin are discussed in terms of environment, given the known ecotoxicity of this drug, and of cross-contamination. Animals licking themselves and each other could result in unexpected residues in edible tissues of untreated animals and in possible subtherapeutic drug concentrations, a factor in drug resistance. According to the Precautionary Principle, these considerations elicit concern over the use of topical drug formulations in cattle.

PCR amplification and sequence of the p33 piroplasm surface antigen gene of a Theileria species isolated from cattle in west Java, Indonesia.

Oriental theileriosis, a parasitic disease of cattle caused by protozoa of the Theileria orientalis/sergenti/buffeli group, has been reported in Indonesia but its causal agent had not yet been characterized. This study was carried out to isolate and characterize the parasite through comparison of its p33 piroplasm surface antigen gene sequence, with known p32 sequences of T. sergenti and T. buffeli isolates. A Theileria spp. isolate was collected from an Ongole cow in Jonggol, West-Java, and transferred into a splenectomized calf for antigen production. Piroplasms were extracted from erythrocytes by ammonium chloride-lysis, separated from unlysed leukocytes and parasitic DNA was phenol-extracted. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out on genomic DNA with a pair of 20 bp primers showing consensus for the p32-35 nucleotide sequence of 7 known T. orientalis/sergenti/buffeli isolates. An 875 bp fragment was amplified, and further sequenced on both strands by the dye-labeled terminators method. It showed an 88% homology with the p33 nucleotide sequence of the Japanese T. sergenti Ikeda stock and a lesser homology with 6 other sequences of Australian T. buffeli or Japanese T. sergenti stocks. It was shown to share the presence of the Pst 1 and the absence of the HindIII restriction sites of the T. sergenti Ikeda stock and of one Australian T. buffeli stock, respectively. In conclusion, the affiliation to and the relative position of this Indonesian isolate within the T. orientalis/sergenti/buffeli group has been elucidated.

A competitive ELISA for the serodiagnosis of hypodermosis

Hypodermosis is a parasitic disease of cattle caused by Hypoderma lineatum and H. bovis. It is an important health and welfare problem of infested cattle and a cause of considerable economic loss. In live animals, detection can be either by direct clinical examination of infested cattle and palpation of second and third stage larvae in the back or by the use of serological methods. This paper describes a competitive ELISA for the detection of antibodies to Hypoderma species in cattle sera. It has been validated using a small panel of 40 samples from clinically positive cattle and 200 samples from clinically negative (unexposed) cattle from a warble free area. Sensitivity and specificity calculated from this panel were 100% and 92% respectively at 2 SD from the mean or 92.5% and 98.5% at 3 SD from the mean. The use of serology and direct clinical examination of affected cattle, are discussed as methods for monitoring hypodermosis. The competitive ELISA should prove a useful adjunct to the standard sandwich ELISA, particularly in the resolution of samples which display non-specific binding properties.

An immunological approach

Barry Bloom, professor of microbiology at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, looks at the possibilities for preventing parasitic diseases in cattle.