The impact of 2 dipping systems on endemic stability to bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis in cattle in 4 communally grazed areas in Limpopo Province, South Africa (original) (raw)
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Bovine Babesiosis and Anaplasmosis in some Cattle Farms in the Vina Division
International Journal of Livestock Research, 2017
Cattle infection with Babesiosis and Anaplasmosis like other Tick Borne Diseases (TBDs) is common in the Vina Division of the Adamaoua region of Cameroon. In this present investigation, cattle were diagnosed using the Giemsa staining technique of the following TBDs in various proportions: Babesia bovis (24.1%), Babesia bigemina (4.84%), Anaplasma marginale (62.0%) and Anaplasma centrale (53.5%). The overall mixed genera (Babesia + Anaplasma) infection prevalence was 24.4% and was less than single infections (Babesia spp or Anaplasma spp) with no significant difference (P˃0.05). It was observed that the use of an acaricide whatever the mode of application seems to significantly reduce the infestation with ticks, but had no effect on the prevalence of tick-borne blood parasites. Young animals were more susceptible to the diagnosed blood parasites, anemia and polyparasitism than their adult counterparts. Hematocrit was lower in traditional management scheme and can be attributed to the likely presence of heavy infection doses of blood parasites during the study. The application of acaricide is recommended to reduce the infestation with ticks, thereby improving the health of animals. Similarly a control strategy against these parasites and their vectors should not be neglected in the Vina Division.
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 2006
A survey was conducted at 30 communal dip tanks and on 5 commercial farms in Limpopo Province, South Africa, during 1999 and 2000 to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina. Cattle seropositive for B. bovis were found in 97 % of the herds on communal land; the overall seroprevalence changed little between 1999 (63.3 %) and 2000 (62.4 %). All herds surveyed were infected with B. bigemina, and overall seroprevalence decreased significantly from 56.1 % in 1999 to 49.3 % in 2000. In herds on communal land in Sour Lowveld Bushveld, overall seroprevalence of B. bovis increased from 70 % in 1999 to 80 % in 2000, while seroprevalence of B. bigemina decreased from 70 % in 1999 to 30 % in 2000. This was possibly due to an influx of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus that occurred at the time. In commercially farmed herds the seroprevalence to B. bovis increased significantly from 19 % in 1999 to 57.5 % in 2000. All commercial herds in the survey teste...
Epidemiology of bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis in Zambia
Tropical Animal Health and Production, 1988
Bovine Anaplasmosis is one of the most important tick borne diseases of ruminants worldwide causing significant economic losses in the livestock industries due to the high morbidity and mortality in susceptible cattle herds. The main aim of this paper is to review the epidemiology of bovine anaplasmosis. Bovine Anaplasmosis, caused by Anaplasma marginale, is an infectious but non-contagious disease. The mode of transmission of Bovine anaplasmosis includes mechanical (blood contaminated fomites (needles, ear tagging, dehorning and castration equipment), biological (tick bites) and transplcenta (mother to fetus). Bovine Anaplasmosis occurs in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Cattle of all ages are susceptible to infection with A. marginale, but the severity of disease increases with age. The common clinical sign of bovine anaplsmosis includes; Fever, anorexia, rapid loss of body condition, severe decrease in milk production, pale and icteric mucous membranes, increased heart and respiratory rates, muscle weakness and depression. Diagnosis of bovine Anaplasmosis can be made by demonstration of A. marginale on stained blood smears from clinically infected animals during the acute phase of the disease, but it is not reliable for detecting infection in pre-symptomatic or carrier animals. Instead of blood smears, serological demonstration of antibodies and confirmation of antigen with molecular detection method is more prefer than blood smear. Anaplasmosis can be treated by administration oxytetracycline; however a carrier animal doesn't recover with oxytetracycline treatment. Control measures for bovine Anaplasmosis vary with geographical location and include maintenance of Anaplasma free herds, vector control, administration of antibiotics and vaccination. Generally, Anaplasmosis is one of the ricketticia diseases of bovine which decrease development of country. Intensive acaridae application to control ticks has a number of limitations, therefore, immunization together with strategic tick control is recommended for exotic and crossbred cattle. Further studies on epidemiology of bovine anaplasmosis were not conducted in Ethiopia; therefore the researcher and Veterinarians should have to be focused on Bovine anaplasmosis.
Journal of the South African Veterinary Association, 1997
Perceived causes, diagnosis and treatment of redwater (babesiosis) and gallsickness (anaplasmosis) in cattle by livestock farmers in communal areas of the central Eastern Cape Province were investigated by means of participatory methods, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey. Most livestock owners relate the causes of these diseases to excessive grazing of lush green grass, which is thought to bring about an accumulation of bile in the body. The majority of livestock owners diagnose gallsickness and redwater on the basis of presenting signs and post mortem findings. Eighty nine percent of a total of 343 livestock owners participating in the study claimed to administer herbal remedies to treat the 2 tick-borne diseases; 75 % of these combine herbal remedies with conventional medicines and 25 % use herbal remedies only. Application of herbal remedies was reportedly aimed mainly at the removal of excess bile. However, some plant species used to prepare herbal remedies a...
with the objectives to assess the prevalence and potential risk factors associated with bovine anaplasmosis and babesiosis and also to identify the vectors involved in transmission of these diseases in and around Jimma town, south western Ethiopia. A simple random sampling technique was employed for selecting a sampling unit and logistic regression was used to determine the association of hypothesized risk factors with positivity for bovine anaplasmosis and/or babesiosis. A total of 408 bovine blood samples were examined for the presence of either anaplasmosis or babesiosis by Giemsa staining technique and overall prevalence of 11.7% babesiosis and 6.1% anaplasmosis were determined. Two Babesia species (2.2% Babesia bovis and 9.8% B. bigemina) and two anaplasma species (5.1% Anaplasma marginale and 1.2% A. centrale) were identified. Even though risk factors like age, body condition, management system, sex and presence of ticks were considered, only age (p = 0.006) and body condition (p = 0.039) were found to be significantly associated with anaplasmosis. Moreover, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed statistically significant association of babesiosis with age (p = 0.003), body condition (p = 0.012) and presence of ticks (p = 0.005). For both infections the mean PCV of infected animals was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than non-infected animals. Similarly, the mean body temperature of infected animals was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than non-infected animals. The overall 70.8% infestation of cattle with four tick species, namely Amblyomma cohaerens (58.5%) and A. variegatum (44.1%), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (50.5%) and R. evertsi evertsi (12.9%) were recorded. A significant positive correlation was observed between the presence of R. evertsi evertsi (p = 0.000) and R. (B). decoloratus (p = 0.000) on the animals and positivity for bovine anaplasmosis. Besides, R. (B). decoloratus was found to be the only tick species which its presence on the animal was significantly correlated (p = 0.000) with babesiosis positivity. Conclusively, the study revealed a moderate prevalence of bovine anaplasmosis and babesiosis in the study area which need further investigations using modern serological and molecular techniques for the identification of the carriers the infections and identification of the potential vectors.
Experimental and Applied Acarology, 2000
The paper provides a summary of three studies conducted in the eastern Free State of South Africa between 1998 and 2000. In a questionnaire-based study approximately 21% of interviewed resource-poor farmers (n = 150) indicated that they experienced problems with ticks and tick-borne diseases. About 56% of farmers indicated that tick-related problems were most severe in summer, while 32% indicated that the most problems were encountered in winter. About 12% indicated that the tick problems were experienced throughout the year. Farmers also indicated that the highest tick burdens were experienced between spring and early winter. The principal ticks infesting cattle (n = 30) were found to be Boophilus decoloratus (53.1%), Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (44.7%), Rhipicephalus follis (1.0%), Rhipicephalus gertrudae (0.7%) and Rhipicephalus warburtoni (0.4%). On small stock (n = 188), R. evertsi evertsi (68%) and B. decoloratus (32%) were recorded as the main ticks in the study area. A sero-epidemiological survey of cattle (n = 386) showed that 94% of cattle were seropositive for Babesia bigemina by IFAT, while 87% were sero-positive for Anaplasma by indirect ELISA. All the animals were sero-negative for Babesia bovis and this is probably because the tick vector, Boophilus microplus, is not present in the study area. All sheep and goats were sero-positive for Theileria species by IFAT while 85% of sheep and 100% of goats tested positive for Anaplasma species by competition inhibition ELISA. The high incidence of positive serological results for B. bigemina and Anaplasma in cattle, and Theileria and Anaplasma in sheep and goats and the absence of clinical cases would indicate that this area is endemically stable for these diseases.
Ecology and Control of Vector-borne Diseases
Ticks have a tremendous impact on cattle production worldwide. Economic losses caused by tick infestation are due to direct effects like less milk production and less gain in body weight, costs for application of control measures, which in most cases is based on the application of acaricides, and the losses due to tick-borne diseases. A variety of tick-borne pathogens are responsible for significant losses due to morbidity and mortality, veterinary and diagnostic costs, vaccines and trade restrictions. In this chapter we describe tick-borne diseases of cattle caused by three different groups of pathogens in order to emphasize the challenges currently faced in their control. Antigenic and genetic heterogeneity of each of these pathogens is challenging the attempts of specifically controlling the related disease, and precise diagnostic or vaccine development is hampered. As different tick species are involved as the main transmitting vectors, the development of tick vaccines is likewise challenging. With the exception of the Bm86 gut antigen used against the two main Rhipicephalus tick species transmitting Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina, this strategy is thus far not working with any other tick species. Currently the best protection of the cattle industry against tick-borne diseases is a combination of various measures, which have to be adapted to the particular situation and to consider all possibilities including chemical tick control, grazing management, and breeding for host resistance to ticks.
Parasitology Research, 2012
Anaplasmosis and babesiosis are major tick-borne diseases with a high economic impact but are also a public health concern. Blood samples collected in the spring, summer, and autumn of 2010 from 65 cows in seven different farms in Belgium were monitored with an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test to assess seroprevalence against these pathogens. Seroprevalences to Babesia spp. were measured as 10.7%, 20%, and 12.3% in spring, summer, and autumn, respectively, whereas seroprevalences to Anaplasma phagocytophilum were 30.8%, 77%, and 56.9%, respectively. A total of 805 Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected at the same time from both cattle (feeding ticks) and grazed pastures (questing ticks). The infection level of ticks, assessed by PCR assay, for Babesia spp. DNA was 14.6% and 7.9% in feeding and questing ticks, respectively, whereas 21.7% and 3% of feeding and questing ticks were found be positive for A. phagocytophilum cDNA. Fifty-five PCR-positive samples were identified by sequencing as Babesia sp. EU1, of which five from feeding ticks were positive for both A. phagocytophilum and Babesia sp. EU1. The high density of wild cervids in the study area could explain these observations, as deer are considered to be the main hosts for adults of I. ricinus. However, the absence of Babesia divergens both in feeding and questing ticks is surprising, as the study area is known to be endemic for cattle babesiosis. Increasing cervid populations and comorbidity could play an import role in the epidemiology of these tickborne diseases.
Veterinary Parasitology, 2008
A longitudinal study was conducted in Southeast Uganda for 14 months on 640 Zebu cattle kept under natural tick challenge, with a view to identifying clinical features for prediction of seroconversion to Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bigemina and Theileria parva infections. Physical examination, condition scoring and tick counts were undertaken on all cattle every 4 weeks. In addition, 5300 sera were collected and analysed for antibodies against A. marginale, B. bigemina and T. parva infections using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The major clinical features compiled included weight loss, fever (rectal temperature), anaemia (packed cell volume), pallor of mucous membranes, lymph node enlargement, staring coat, diarrhoea and lacrymation. The risk factors included tick challenge at village level, sex, age, Rhipicephalus spp. density and Boophilus spp. density on individual animals. Using a binary logistic regression model, the clinical features and risk factors were analysed. The results suggest that increasing rectal temperature was associated with increased probability for seroconversion to A. marginale, while high level of Rhipicephalus spp. density and increasing packed cell volume (PCV) were significantly associated with reduced probability of seroconversion. Although statistically significant, none of the factors had large effects, with odds ratios (OR) of 0.87, 1.15 and 0.98 for Rhipicephalus spp. density, rectal temperature and PCV, respectively. For B. bigemina infection, a high level of Boophilus spp. density, anaemia and staring coat were significantly associated with increased probability of seroconversion (OR 1.50, 1.78, 1.37, respectively). Presence of lacrymation and old age were associated with reduced probability of seroconversion (OR 0.52, 0.86 respectively). For T. parva infection, lymph node enlargement (OR 1.30) was associated with increased probability of seroconversion, while high Rhipicephalus spp. density and increasing packed cell volume (PCV) were associated with reduced probability of seroconversion (OR 0.68 and 0.98, respectively). In conclusion, presence and intensity of the respective tick vectors for tick-borne diseases, age and clinical features such as anaemia, fever, staring coat, lymph node enlargement and lacrymation are indicators for seroconversion to A. marginale, B. bigemina and T. parva infections in cattle. These indicators for seroconversion could be exploited in the development of decision support tools for clinical diagnosis of tick-borne diseases.