Molecular detection of Anaplasma spp. in blood and milk of dairy cattle in the Philippines

Abstract

Anaplasmosis has become a major concern in the cattle industry throughout the world due to its great economic impact. The causative agents, Anaplasma species, are primarily transmitted by ticks, occurring intracellularly within blood cells, with some species being zoonotic. In this study, the presence of Anaplasma spp. was investigated in the blood and milk of dairy cattle in the Philippines. Blood and milk samples were collected from 98 dairy cattle from selected farms in five provinces in the southern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. After DNA extraction, a conventional PCR for the control gene actin was performed, followed by nested PCR for Anaplasma spp. Selected amplicons were purified and subjected to sequence analysis. It was found that 97 (98.97%) blood samples and 6 (6.12%) milk samples were positive for Anaplasma. Sequence analysis revealed that the positive amplicons from milk samples and their corresponding blood samples shared a high identity (98%-100%) with reported Anaplasma marginale isolates. To the authors' knowledge, this study provides the first molecular evidence of the presence of A. marginale in milk from dairy cattle under field conditions in the Philippines.

Molecular Prevalence of Anaplasma marginale and Ehrlichia in Domestic Large Ruminants and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus Ticks From Southern Luzon, Philippines

“…A high prevalence of A. marginale was observed in cattle, but it was lower than the prevalence previously reported in a study in Luzon involving two dairy farms (13) and the detection rate in our study in the same region that only included milking dairy cattle (17). The current study included dairy cattle, most of which are Holstein Friesian or Holstein-Sahiwal crosses, as well as the tropical native Philippine cattle commonly raised for beef.…”

“…Nevertheless, epidemiological data in the country remains fragmented. Aside from its presence in the blood, we previously reported the detection of A. marginale in the milk of dairy cattle (17). A study previously reported the detection of Ehrlichia in 35 of 246 bovine blood samples through PCR, but the species was not identified (18).…”

Molecular survey of tick-borne pathogens infecting backyard cattle and water buffaloes in Quezon province, Philippines

“…The 16.67% (8/48) bovine A. marginale detection rate in this survey was significantly lower compared to a recent study which reported a 100% Anaplasma spp. detection rate in 21 dairy cattle in the same area [ 8 ]. In the Philippines, hemoplasmas have only been reported in cattle and goats in Cebu [ 13 , 22 ] and dairy cattle and water buffaloes (80%) in Bohol [ 24 ] in the Visayas area.…”

Metagenomic reveals succession in the bacterial community and predicts changes in raw milk during refrigeration

“…In the current study, the relative abundance of Anaplasma decreased remarkably after a day of refrigeration, indicating that the low temperature at which raw milk was stored was may unsuitable for its growth. Similarly, using nested PCR and sequential analysis, Dela Cruz, Galay, Sandalo, Pilapil‐Amante, and Tanaka (2019) also identified Anaplasma genus in raw milk. Zhang, Chen, et al (2016); Zhang, Lv, et al (2016) annotated Anaplasma phagocytophilum at the species level in fresh healthy goat milk, which was also annotated in this study.…”