Distribution of Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Theileria spp., and Ehrlichia ruminantium, was for the first time studied in Bié Province, central Angola. We examined 76 blood samples of cattle originated from seven farms, and 13 blood samples of goats from two farms employing molecular genetic tools (PCR). Most prevalent was A. ovis-infection in goats (100%) and A. marginale-infection in cattle (38% of examined animals, and six out of seven farms). B. bigemina-infection was detected in only one specimen at Andulo, whereas B. bovis was not detected in Bié. We did not detected T. parva, the causative agent of serious diseases in cattle; nevertheless, infection by T. velifera was quite frequent (14% of examined animals, and five out of seven farms). Causative agent of heartwater disease - E. ruminantium, was not detected. Taking into account short-term perspective of PCR methods in monitoring of epidemiological status in herds, the number of infected animals and distribution of detected pathogens should not be ignored.

La distribution d’Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp., Theileria spp. et Ehrlichia ruminantium a été pour la première fois étudiée dans la province de Bié, au centre de l’Angola. Nous avons examiné par PCR 76 échantillons de sang de bétail provenant de sept fermes et 13 échantillons de sang de chèvres de deux fermes. L’infection par A. ovis a été observée chez 100 % des chèvres, celle par A. marginale chez 38 % des animaux du bétail de six fermes sur sept, celle par B. bigemina chez seulement un spécimen à Andulo, tandis que B. bovis n’a pas été détecté dans cette province. Nous n’avons pas détecté T. parva, l’agent causal de maladies graves du bétail; néanmoins, l’infection par T. velifera était assez fréquente (14 % d’animaux examinés de cinq fermes sur sept). E. ruminantium n’a pas été détecté. Le recours à la PCR pour le suivi du statut épidémiologique des troupeaux (nombre d’animaux infectés et distribution des agents pathogènes) ne devrait pas être ignoré à court terme.

Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Aboulaila M., Yokoyama N. & Igarashi I.Development and evaluation of a nested PCR based on spherical body protein 2 gene for the diagnosis of Babesia bovis infection. Veterinary Parasitology, 2010, 169, 45–50 PubMed

Awad H., Antunes S., Galindo R.C., Do Rosário V.E., de La Fuente J., Domingos A. & El Hussein A.M.Prevalence and genetic diversity of Babesia and Anaplasma species in cattle in Sudan. Veterinary Parasitology, 2011, 181, 146–152 PubMed

Bazarusanga T., Vercruysse J., Marcotty T. & Geysen D.Epidemiological studies on theileriosis and the dynamics of Theileria parva infections in Rwanda. Veterinary Parasitology, 2007, 143, 214–221 PubMed

Bell-Sakyi L., Koney E.B.M., Dogbey O. & Walker A.R.Incidence and prevalence of tick-borne haemoparasites in domestic ruminants in Ghana. Veterinary Parasitology, 2004, 124, 25–42 PubMed

Bock R., Jackson L., De Vos A. & Jorgensen W.Babesiosis of cattle. Parasitology, 2004, 129, S247–S269 PubMed

Bowles P.M., Molloy J.B., Blight G.W., Singh S. & Mabikacheche L.G.Evaluation of a commercially available kit for detection of antibodies to Anaplasma marginale and A. centrale in cattle in Australia and Zimbabwe. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 2000, 67, 83–86 PubMed

da Silveira J.A.G., Rabelo É.M.L. & Ribeiro M.F.B.Detection of Theileria and Babesia in brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) and marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Veterinary Parasitology, 2011, 177, 61–66 PubMed

Deem S.L., Norval R.A.I., Donachie P.L. & Mahan S.M.Demonstration of vertical transmission of Cowdria ruminantium, the causative agent of heartwater from cows to their calves. Veterinary Parasitology, 1996, 61, 119–132 PubMed

de La Fuente J., van den Bussche R. & Kocan K.M.Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of North American isolates of Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiaceae: Ehrlichieae). Veterinary Parasitology, 2001, 97, 65–76 PubMed

De Waal D.T.Anaplasmosis control and diagnosis in South Africa. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2000, 916, 474–483 PubMed

Figueroa J.V., Alvarez J.A., Ramos J.A., Rojas E.E., Santiago C., Mosqueda J.J., Vega C.A. & Buening G.M.Bovine babesiosis and anaplasmosis follow-up on cattle relocated in an endemic area for hemoparasitic diseases. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1998, 849, 1–10 PubMed

Gachohi J.M., Ngumi P.N., Kitala P.M. & Skilton R.A.Estimating seroprevalence and variation to four tick-borne infections and determination of associated risk factors in cattle under traditional mixed farming system in Mbeere District, Kenya. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2010, 95, 208–223 PubMed

Gomes A.F., Pombal Jr A.M. & Venturi L.Observations on cattle ticks in Huila Province (Angola). Veterinary Parasitology, 1994, 51, 333–336 PubMed

Kocan K.M., de La Fuente J., Blouin E.F. & Garcia-Garcia J.C.Anaplasma marginale (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae): recent advances in defining host-pathogen adaptations of a tick-borne rickettsia. Parasitology, 2004, 129, S285–S300 PubMed

Kocan K.M., de La Fuente J., Blouin E.F., Coetzee J.F. & Ewing S.A.The natural history of Anaplasma marginale. Veterinary Parasitology, 2010, 167, 95–107 PubMed

Lawrence J.A., Perry B.D. & Williamson S.M.Coetzer J.A.W. & Tustin R.C.Corridor disease, in: Infectious diseases of livestock, 2nd ed Cape Town, Southern Africa, Oxford University Press, 2004, 468–471

Mahan S.M., Waghela S.D., McGuire T.C., Rurangirwa F.R., Wassink L.A. & Barbet A.F.A cloned DNA probe for Cowdria ruminantium hybridizes with eight heartwater strains and detects infected sheep. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 1992, 30, 981–986 PubMed PMC

Makala L.H., Mangani P., Fujisaki K. & Nagasawa H.The current status of major tick borne diseases in Zambia. Veterinary Research, 2003, 34, 27–45 PubMed

Mtshali M.S., De Waal D.T. & Mbati P.A.A sero-epidemiological survey of blood parasites in cattle in the northeastern Free State, South Africa. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 2004, 71, 67–75 PubMed

Okuthe O.S. & Buyu G.E.Prevalence and incidence of tickborne diseases in smallholder farming systems in the western-Kenya highlands. Veterinary Parasitology, 2006, 141, 307–312 PubMed

Olwoch J.M., Reyers B., Engelbrecht F.A. & Erasmus B.F.N.Climate change and the tick-borne disease, theileriosis (East Coast fever) in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Arid Environments, 2008, 72, 108–120

Oura C.A.L., Bishop R.P., Wampande E.M., Lubega G.W. & Tait A.Application of a reverse line blot assay to the study of haemoparasites in cattle in Uganda. International Journal of Parasitology, 2004, 34, 603–613 PubMed

Pfitzer S., Oosthuizen M.C., Bosman A.M., Vorster I. & Penzhorn B.L.Tick-borne blood parasites in nyala (Tragelaphus angasii, Gray 1849) from Kwa-Zulu-Natal, South Africa. Veterinary Parasitology, 2011, 176, 126–131 PubMed

Provost A. & Bezuidenhout J.D.The historical background and global importance of heartwater. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 1987, 54, 165–169 PubMed

Simuunza M., Weir W., Courcier E., Tait A. & Shiels B.Epidemiological analysis of tick-borne diseases in Zambia. Veterinary Parasitology, 2011, 175, 331–342 PubMed

Sonenshine D.E.Biology of Ticks, vol. 2 Oxford University Press, NY, USA, 1993

Sonenshine D.E. & Mather T.N.Ecological dynamics of Tick-borne zoonoses. Oxford University Press, NY, USA, 1994

Stoltsz W.H.Theileriosis in South Africa: a brief review. Revue Scientifique et Technique de l’Office International des Épizooties, 1989, 8, 93–102 PubMed

Tamura K., Peterson D., Peterson N., Stecher G., Nei M. & Kumar S.MEGA5: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis using maximum likelihood, evolutionary distance, and maximum parsimony methods. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2011, 28, 2731–2739 PubMed PMC

Uilenberg G.International collaborative research: significance of tick-borne haemoparasitic diseases to world animal health. Veterinary Parasitology, 1995, 57, 19–41 PubMed

Van Amstel S.R., Guthrie A.J., Reyers F., Bertschinger H., Oberem P.T., Killeen V.M. & Mathee O.The clinical pathology and pathophysiology of heartwater: a review. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 1987, 54, 287–290 PubMed

Walker A.R., Bouattour A., Camicas J.L., Estrada-Peña A., Horak I.G., Latif A.A., Pegram R.G. & Preston P.M.Ticks of domestic animals in Africa. A guide to identification of species. Bioscience Reports, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 2003

Walker J.B. & Olwage A.The tick vectors of Cowdria ruminantium (Ixodoidea, Ixodidae, Genus Amblyomma) and their distribution. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 1987, 54, 353–379 PubMed

Walker J.B., Keirans J.E. & Horak I.G.The genus Rhipicephalus (Acari, Ixodidae). A guide to the brown Ticks of the World. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000

Yusufmia S.B.A.S., Collins N.E., Nkuna R., Troskie M., Van den Bossche P. & Penzhorn B.L.Occurence of Theileria parva and other haemoprotozoa in cattle at the edge of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal of South African Veterinary Association,2010, 81, 45–49 PubMed