Faecal samples for detection of gastrointestinal parasites were collected from 60 donkeys from 6 villages in Marand, North-West of Iran. Faecal samples of 2 donkeys (3.33 %) were negative for parasite eggs. 48 positive donkeys (81.66 %) were infected with a single parasite type, 9 (15.51 %) and 1 (1.66 %) of donkeys had multiple infections with two and three parasites, respectively. The highest prevalence and intensity rate belonged to small strongyles. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites eggs in the positive donkeys were: strongyles 100 %, Parascaris equorum (15.51 %), Habronema spp. 1.72 %. Larval identification showed that small strongyle larvae were most frequent (100 %) followed by Strongylus edentatus (5.17 %), S. equinus (35.71 %) and S. vulgaris (26.66 %). This study revealed that donkeys in Iran are infected with a range of helminths, which are representatives of the important pathogenic parasites found in equids worldwide.
Tropical theileriosis is a progressive bovine lymphoproliferative disease caused by the intracellular protozoan parasite Theileria annulata. In this study 138 blood samples and 289 ticks were collected and examined from cattle that belonged to 10 randomly selected flocks. The Tbs-S/Tbs-A primer set was used for PCR amplification of Theileria spp. and the Ta-S/Tbs-A specific primer set was used in semi-nested PCR technique for detection of T. annulata. Blood smears of each case were examined by Giemsa staining method. The semi-nested PCR accurately revealed 22 (15.94 %) positive samples; whereas Giemsa staining method could detect 15 (10.86 %) out of 138 blood samples. The examination of 289 ticks by semi-nested PCR revealed that, 32.86 % of Hyalomma anatulicum anatulicum, 26.47 % of Hyalomma anatulicum excavatum and 22.42 % of Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum, were infected with T. annulata. The results suggest that H. anatulicum anatolicum may play a major role in transmission of T. annulata infection in Iran. The results indicated that the Giemsa staining method, having low sensitivity, while the semi-nested PCR technique can be used as a gold standard method for this purpose.
This survey was done to investigate the efficacy of the in-house indirect ELISA (iELISA) and Dot-ELISA methods Prepared from excretion-secretory (ES Ag) and Crude (Cr Ag) antigens of Fasciola for sero-diagnosis of Fasciola gigantica in cattle. The liver specimens of slaughtered cattle were collected and their liver examined macroscopically and microscopically for infestation to fasciolosis. Sera from two groups of cattle, one infected with fasciolosis (n = 60) and the other non-infected with fasciolosis (n = 60), were used in the iELISA and Dot-ELISA test; grouping based on histopathology results. Except specificity, other parameters such as, sensitivity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of both Dot-ELISA and iELISA done with ES Ag were better than those of tests performed with Cr Ag. Interestingly, the reliability of two methods was very good similar to one another.
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