Molecular and serological evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection of farm animals in the Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the presence and the prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in sheep and cattle in the Middle and Eastern Black Sea Regions of Turkey in which the potential vector, Ixodes ricinus, is widespread. Blood samples were collected from 720 sheep and 720 cattle from 6 provinces of the region, and used for detecting antibodies to A. phagocytophilum by indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and specific nucleic acids by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Blood smears were also prepared and examined microscopically for the presence of A. phagocytophilum-like organisms in polymorphonuclear cells. Of the animals examined, antibodies were detected in 110 (15.27%) cattle and 107 (14.86%) sheep and A. phagocytophilum-like organisms were detected in the blood of 73 (10.13%) cattle and 71 (9.86%) sheep. In addition, specific DNA was detected in the blood of 27 (14.75%) cattle and 22 (12.35%) sheep. The results obtained constitute the first molecular and serological evidence of A. phagocytophilum infection in sheep and cattle in the Black Sea Region of Turkey.

Molecular and serological prevalence of Anaplasma marginale in cattle of North Central Morocco

“…Anaplasma is globally the most prevalent tick-borne pathogen of cattle and has a worldwide distribution with regions of endemicity on six continents (Futse et al, 2003) and high incidence in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (De La Fuente et al, 2005;Torina et al, 2008;Gokce et al, 2008;Ooshiro et al, 2009;Ruybal et al, 2009). A. centrale is widely distributed but has never been reported in North Africa, it has been reported only in South Africa (OIE, 2008).…”

Klinik Olarak Anaplasmosis Şüphesi Olan Ruminantlarda cELISA’nın Tanısal Değerinin Belirlenmesi

“…A few previous serological studies involving A. marginale reported that the sero-prevalence ranged from 14.86% to 59.3% in different regions of Turkey [3,9,10,12] . The differences between infection prevalence may be attributed to the changes in climatic condition, intensity of tick infestation, and also contaminated needles and instruments transmission is an efficient way of infection spreading in herds [23] .…”

“…is found to be major transmitting agent [2,7,8] . Although there are some prevalence reports of anaplasmosis in cattle with high rate (up to 80%) [1,3,[9][10][11] , information about prevalence rates in small ruminants is restricted in Turkey [12,13] .…”

“…However these tests cannot discriminate different Anaplasma species because of antigenic similarity. On the other hand detection of Anaplasma species using nucleic acid approach offers an alternative diagnostic tool [2,5,12,13] .…”

“…Although, there are few studies with respect to serologic diagnosis of this rickettsial disease in Turkey [3,9,10,12] , there is no serological study conducted in clinically suspected ruminants.…”