Prevalence and molecular detection of Babesia bigemina in water buffalo from southeastern region of Pakistan

Imam Bakhsh Khetran; Abdullah G. Arijo; Muhammad Bachal Buhtto; Javaid Ali Gadahi; Zubair Ahmed Laghari

Prevalence and molecular detection of Babesia bigemina in water buffalo from southeastern region of Pakistan

2019

Imam Bakhsh Khetran | Abdullah G. Arijo | Muhammad Bachal Buhtto | Javaid Ali Gadahi | Zubair Ahmed Laghari

AbstractBabesia spp. are tick-transmitted apicomplexan parasites that infect erythrocytes of a widerange of vertebrates including domestic animals, and can be associated with a considerableeconomic loss due to introduction of prophylactic measures, decreased production and rates ofmorbidity and mortality. An efficient detection assay needs to be set up for accurate diagnosisand prevention of disease. The present work is aimed at verifying the occurrence of Babesiabigemina infection in water buffaloes in the southeastern region of Pakistan by using bothtraditional blood smear and molecular techniques. A total of 100 blood samples were collectedfrom tick-free and tick-infested animals (50 animals each group). The overall prevalencewas recorded as 20% and 17% by using thin blood smear and PCR methods, respectively.Moreover, the analysis of infection in tick-infested and tick-free animals showed the infectionrates of 36% and 4% by using blood smear method, and 30% and 4% with that of PCRmethod, respectively. Despite the higher prevalence rate recorded by blood smear method,which may be the result of non-specific identification of Babesia species, these results indicatethat the PCR assay used in this study provides a useful tool for accurate diagnosis of theBabesia bigemina infection in bovines.Key words: Babesia bigemina, diagnosis, PCR, prevalence, blood smear technique

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