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

Abstract

Tick-borne diseases (TBD) cause enormous losses for farmers. Backyard raising comprises majority of the livestock population in the Philippines, but TBD information in backyard livestock is scarce. In this study, 48 cattle and 114 water buffalo samples from Quezon province, Philippines were molecularly screened for tick-borne pathogens. Anaplasma marginale (16.67%) and hemoplasma (20.99%) were detected in the samples. A. marginale infection ( P =0.0001) was significantly higher in cattle, while hemoplasma infection ( P =0.011) was significantly higher in water buffaloes. A. marginale isolates from this study were highly similar to previous isolates from the Philippines while Mycoplasma wenyonii and Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos were the identified hemoplasma species. Our findings reveal additional information on the TBD situation of Philippine backyard livestock.

Molecular Detection and Characterization of Babesia and Theileria in Cattle and Water Buffaloes from Southern Luzon, Philippines

“…Positive samples from cattle in this study were from the municipalities of Agdangan, Lucban, and Tiaong, whereas the positive samples for water buffaloes were obtained from the municipalities of Lucban, Pagbilao, and Pitogo. These areas were not sampled in the said study of Galon et al [38]. In contrast to the results of this study, other studies in the Philippines reported a higher detection rate for B. bigemina than B. bovis.…”

“…In the said paper, a lower detection rate for Babesia was also reported, which could be due to the lower number of animals tested. Meanwhile, another study did not detect both Babesia and Theileria in Quezon [38], which may be due to the difference in the municipalities wherein samples were collected. Positive samples from cattle in this study were from the municipalities of Agdangan, Lucban, and Tiaong, whereas the positive samples for water buffaloes were obtained from the municipalities of Lucban, Pagbilao, and Pitogo.…”

“…Piroplasmosis, specifically babesiosis and theileriosis, are among the most widely distributed tick-borne protozoan diseases that cause devastation in the livestock industry [8,9]. The occurrence of Babesia in cattle has been extensively studied in several areas in the Philippines [8,27,[36][37][38][39][40] but there is limited epidemiological data on Theileria. This study provides additional epidemiological data on B. bigemina and B. bovis in cattle and water buffaloes in Southern Luzon and confirms the presence of T. orientalis in cattle in the region through PCR.…”

A Case Study of Photosensitivity Associated with Anaplasma spp. Infection in Cattle

“…The cattle, regardless of age, are infected with A. marginale , and they remain carriers of infections that are persistent for life, as characterized by recurrent cycles of rickettsemia [ 1 , 5 ]. During the carrier stage, these cattle with low-level A. marginale infections will not exhibit any associated clinical signs [ 39 ]. However, ticks feeding on blood from the recovered cattle will transmit anaplasmosis to other susceptible animals.…”

Molecular detection of haemophilic pathogens reveals evidence of Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos in dogs and parasitic ticks in central China

“…Natural infections of 'Ca. M. haemobos' have been found in Africa [20,21], Asia [10,16,22,23], Europe [12,15] and South America [14,24]. In backyard farms in central China, 'Ca.…”