An epidemiological survey of bovine Babesia and Theileria parasites in cattle, buffaloes, and sheep in Egypt

Abstract

Cattle, buffaloes, and sheep are the main sources of meat and milk in Egypt, but their productivity is thought to be greatly reduced by hemoprotozoan parasitic diseases. In this study, we analyzed the infection rates of Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, Theileria annulata, and Theileria orientalis, using parasite-specific PCR assays in blood-DNA samples sourced from cattle (n=439), buffaloes (n=50), and sheep (n=105) reared in Menoufia, Behera, Giza, and Sohag provinces of Egypt. In cattle, the positive rates of B. bovis, B. bigemina, T. annulata, and T. orientalis were 3.18%, 7.97%, 9.56%, and 0.68%, respectively. On the other hand, B. bovis and T. orientalis were the only parasites detected in buffaloes and each of these parasites was only found in two individual DNA samples (both 2%), while one (0.95%) and two (1.90%) of the sheep samples were positive for B. bovis and B. bigemina, respectively. Sequence analysis showed that the B. bovis Rhoptry Associated Protein-1 and the B. bigemina Apical Membrane Antigen-1 genes were highly conserved among the samples, with 99.3-100% and 95.3-100% sequence identity values, respectively. In contrast, the Egyptian T. annulata merozoite surface antigen-1 gene sequences were relatively diverse (87.8-100% identity values), dispersing themselves across several clades in the phylogenetic tree containing sequences from other countries. Additionally, the T. orientalis Major Piroplasm Surface Protein (MPSP) gene sequences were classified as types 1 and 2. This is the first report of T. orientalis in Egypt, and of type 2 MPSP in buffaloes. Detection of MPSP type 2, which is considered a relatively virulent genotype, suggests that T. orientalis infection may have veterinary and economic significance in Egypt. In conclusion, the present study, which analyzed multiple species of Babesia and Theileria parasites in different livestock animals, may shed an additional light on the epidemiology of hemoprotozoan parasites in Egypt.

Comparison between conventional and molecular methods for diagnosis of bovine babesiosis (Babesia bovis infection) in tick infested cattle in upper Egypt

“…It has an adverse effect on both production and reproduction of cattle. B. bovis and B. bigemina are the most common parasites in cattle Elsify et al 2015). The prevalence of them usually becomes different according to the investigated locality.…”

“…The first description of this disease in Egypt was in 1947 by Nagati (1947). B. bovis infection is a worldwide distributed and considered as one of the most important destructive diseases of cattle (McCosker, 1981;Ibrahim et al 2013 andElsify et al 2015). The clinical signs include fever, hemoglobinuria, acute anemia, and nervous signs (Mosqueda et al 2012;Radwan et al 2013).…”

Genetic variations in merozoite surface antigen genes of Babesia bovis detected in Vietnamese cattle and water buffaloes

“…Consequently, the genetic diversity among the MSA genes has been studied in several endemic countries (Altangeral et al, 2012;Berens et al, 2005;Borgonio et al, 2008;Genis et al, 2008Genis et al, , 2009Leroith et al, 2005;Molad et al, 2014;Nagano et al, 2013;Sivakumar et al, 2013b;Tattiyapong et al, 2014). Almost all these studies invariably focused on the genetic diversity of the MSA genes of B. bovis derived from cattle, whereas B. bovis in buffaloes has rarely been investigated, although this host species is considered to play a significant role in its epidemiology (da Silva et al, 2013;Elsify et al, 2015;He et al, 2012;Sivakumar et al, 2013a). Therefore, in this study, we investigated the diversity in the B. bovis MSA-1, Table 3 The diversity of amino acid residues in the B-cell epitopes predicted from Vietnamese MSA-1, MSA-2b, and MSA-2c sequences.…”

“…Buffaloes are thought to play an important role in the epidemiology of B. bovis (da Silva et al, 2013;Elsify et al, 2015;He et al, 2012;Sivakumar et al, 2013a). However, although MSA genes have been widely used for strain verification in B. bovis, they have rarely been compared between cattle and buffaloes.…”

Serological and molecular diagnostic surveys combined with examining hematological profiles suggests increased levels of infection and hematological response of cattle to babesiosis infections compared to native buffaloes in Egypt

“…Previous studies suggest that there are large numbers of cattle in Egypt infected with subclinical babesiosis [5]. In addition, although clinical evidence suggests that buffaloes are likely more tolerant to Babesia infections [10], the hematological response of buffaloes to Babesia infection in Egypt remains poorly investigated [10, 11]. …”