First molecular evidence of Babesia occultans and Theileria separata infection in ticks and sheep in China.

Abstract

Protozoan parasites of the genus Babesia and Theileria are significant tick-borne pathogens of domestic animals and cause economic losses to the livestock industry in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. In this study, 274 blood samples and 32 tick samples were collected from four counties of Wuwei City in northwestern China in June and July in 2018. The DNA from the field samples was analyzed for Babesia or Theileria infection using specific PCR and sequencing based on 18S rRNA gene fragments. The total infection rates were 0.4% for B. motasi and T. separata (both 1/274) in sheep, 3.1% for T. annulata (1/32), 6.2% for B. occultans (2/32) and 9.4% for B. bigemina (3/32) in ticks, respectively. In particular, T. separata has been for the first time detected in sheep in China and B. occultans in Hyalomma asiaticum from Gansu Province of China.

• Authors: Ming Sun, Jinming Wang, Zhijie Liu, Guanquan Guan, Youquan Li, Junlong Liu, Jianlin Xu, Hong Yin, Jianxun Luo
• Journal: Experimental & applied acarology (Exp Appl Acarol) Vol. 78 Issue 2 Pg. 223-229 (Jun 2019) ISSN: 1572-9702 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 31172458 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• RNA, Bacterial
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S

Topics

• Animals
• Babesia (genetics, isolation & purification)
• Babesiosis (epidemiology, microbiology)
• China (epidemiology)
• Phylogeny
• RNA, Bacterial (analysis)
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S (analysis)
• Sequence Analysis, RNA (veterinary)
• Sheep
• Sheep Diseases (epidemiology, microbiology, parasitology)
• Theileria (genetics, isolation & purification)
• Theileriasis (epidemiology, parasitology)