Molecular Epidemiological Investigation of Piroplasms and Anaplasmataceae Bacteria in Egyptian Domestic Animals and Associated Ticks

Abstract

Piroplasmosis and anaplasmosis are serious tick-borne diseases (TBDs) that are concerning for the public and animal health. This study aimed to detect the molecular prevalence and epidemiological risk factors of Piroplasma and Anaplasma species in animal hosts and their associated ticks in Egypt. A total of 234 blood samples and 95 adult ticks were collected from animal hosts (112 cattle, 38 sheep, 28 goats, 26 buffaloes, 22 donkeys, and 8 horses) from six provinces of Egypt (AL-Faiyum, AL-Giza, Beni-Suef, Al-Minufia, Al-Beheira, and Matruh). Blood and tick samples were investigated by polymerase chain reaction coupled with sequencing targeting 18S and 16S RNA genes for Piroplasma sp. and anaplasmataceae, respectively. Statistical analysis was conducted on the potential epidemiological factors. Of the 234 animals examined, 54 (23.08%) were positive for pathogens DNA distributed among the six provinces, where 10 (4.27%) were positive for Piroplasma sp., 44 (18.80%) for anaplasmataceae, and 5 (2.14%) were co-infected. Co-infections were observed only in cattle as Theileria annulata and Anaplasma marginale plus Babesia bigemina, A. marginale plus B. bigemina, and T. annulata plus B. bigemina. Piroplasmosis was recorded in cattle, with significant differences between their prevalence in their tick infestation factors. Animal species, age, and tick infestation were the potential risk factors for anaplasmosis. All ticks were free from piroplasms, but they revealed high prevalence rates of 72.63% (69/95) with anaplasmataceae. We identified T. annulata, B. bigemina, and A. marginale in cattle; A. platys in buffaloes; A. marginale and A. ovis in sheep; for the first time, A. ovis in goats; and Ehrlichia sp. in Rhipicephalus annulatus ticks. Our findings confirm the significant prevalence of piroplasmosis and anaplasmosis among subclinical and carrier animals in Egypt, highlighting the importance of the government developing policies to improve animal and public health security.

Microscopic and molecular detection of piroplasms among sheep in Upper Egypt

“…Regarding sex as a studied individual variable factor, this study found that the overall prevalence of blood parasites in male sheep was significantly higher compared to females, which aligns with earlier studies conducted nationally or internationally ( 63 – 66 ). However, the present findings are in contrast with another reports in Egypt ( 31 , 33 , 62 ). This variation may stem from a notable difference in the sample size of males and females included in our study which could influence the prevalence rates ( 67 ).…”

“…Furthermore, Elsayed et al ( 33 ) in North Coast of Egypt concluded that the infection with blood parasites was higher in sheep more than 3 years. Another study ( 62 ) in Egypt recorded a higher infection rate in animals aged ≤ 1 year. The discrepancies observed between the current findings and other studies could be attributed to variations in sanitary and hygienic practices, the number of examined animals, variations in immunological resistance, and the impact of local climatic conditions, which may influence the spread of ticks ( 32 ).…”

Clinical, seroepidemiological and hematological study of Buffaloes Babesiosis in Basrah, Iraq

“…The Babesiosis is one of the most important local diseases of the blood parasitic and tick born disease in Iraq and especially Basrah governorate as explained in the previous studies such as (Sawitri1 et al 2021 ., Moayad andHasso , 2019) this may be due to the tropical or semi tropical in Basrah as mentioned by (Vikrant Sudan et al 2013& Olaa et al 2017 due to the high temperature and wet weather moreover this weather will help the tick infestation which regard as the main source of babesiosis., this agree with (Alsaad et al 2016& Sobhy et al 2022 The clinical signs which include the fever is due to the immunity reaction as we know and explained by (Sawitri et al 2021& Jasim et al 2023, in the other hand the anorexia and inappitance which lead to the loss of the body weight then emaciation and low milk production while the jaundice mucous membrane in fact result in due to the anemia which caused by the B. bigemina that cause severe decrease in the red blood corpuscles due to the damage of it then leading to hemoglobinuria that affect the kidney function this results agree with (Olaa et al 2017, Sawitri et al 2021& Mohammed et al 2020.…”