Detection ofBabesia caballiandTheileria equiin Blood from Equines from Four Indigenous Communities in Costa Rica

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was carried out in four indigenous communities of Costa Rica to detect presence and prevalence of Babesia caballi and Theileria equi and to investigate factors associated with presence of these hemoparasites. General condition of horses (n = 285) was evaluated, and hematocrits and hemoglobin were determined from blood samples of 130 horses, which were also analyzed using blood smears, nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA). The general condition of the horses (n = 285) in terms of their body and coat was between regular and poor, and hematocrit and hemoglobin average values were low (19% and 10.65 g/dL, resp.). Erythrocyte inclusions were observed in 32 (24.6%) of the samples. Twenty-six samples (20.0%) gave positive results for B. caballi and 60 (46.2%) for T. equi; 10 horses (7.7%) showed mixed infection, when analyzed by PCR. Using c-ELISA, it was found that 90 (69.2%) horses had antibodies against B. caballi and 115 (88.5%) against T. equi, while 81 (62.3%) showed mixed reactions. There were no factors associated with the presence of B. caballi and T. equi. These results contrast with results previously obtained in equines in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.

Molecular and serological detection of Theileria equi, Babesia caballi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in horses and ticks in Maranhão, Brazil

“…Special attention should be given to the fact that a greater presence of T. equi was detected, because this agent is considered more pathogenic (Posada-Guzmán et al 2015). These data differs from the one reported by Kerber et al (2009) that studied the infection by both agents and the association with tick infestation in São Paulo State.…”

Seroprevalence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in horses in Spain

“…Nevertheless, other authors showed the absence of an age-prevalence relationship [1, 3, 8, 10, 17, 23, 26, 36, 40, 46, 69, 75, 76, 80, 92, 94]. The present study pointed out that less than 1/4 of the foals and yearlings were seropositive for both parasites, with an increase in the percentage of infected horses until stabilisation at 11 and 14 years of age for T. equi and B. caballi, respectively, as Cantú-Martínez et al reported [23].…”

Investigação clínica e comparação do esfregaço sanguíneo e PCR para diagnóstico de hemoparasitas em equinos de esporte e tração (carroceiros)

“…Para diagnóstico de hemoparasitoses, na maioria das ocasiões, une-se a clínica apresentada pelo animal, a métodos complementares de diagnóstico, como exame hematológi-co, que revela baixos valores de hemácias, hematócrito e hemoglobina e a pesquisa de hematozoários por esfregaço sanguíneo, que embora seja uma técnica de subjetiva e de baixa sensibilidade para detectar hemoparasitas, principalmente em cavalos com baixa parasitemia, é simples e de baixo custo, sendo uma ferramenta complementar útil para diagnósticos a campo (Laus et al 2015, Posada-Guzmán et al 2015. A pesquisa de hematozoários por PCR é altamente eficiente, uma vez que detecta reduzidas taxas de parasitemia, determinando animais persistentemente infectados e cronicamente infectados.…”

“…A pesquisa de hematozoários por PCR é altamente eficiente, uma vez que detecta reduzidas taxas de parasitemia, determinando animais persistentemente infectados e cronicamente infectados. Porém, devido ao custo elevado, o emprego desta técnica não é a opção da maioria dos médicos veterinários clínicos de equinos (Posada-Guzmán et al 2015). Sendo assim, este estudo apresenta uma comparação das técnicas de esfregaço sanguíneo e PCR para diagnóstico de hemoparasitas, em equinos de esporte e tração (carroceiros), e revela que embora os animais pos-sam parecer hígidos clinicamente e, até mesmo, apresentar valores hematológicos dentro dos valores de referência utilizados como fisiológico para a espécie, podem possuir hemoparasitas no organismo, o que certamente influi na higidez e desempenho do animal.…”