Advanced Studies on Piroplasma in Camel and Equine

Abstract

Ticks borne diseases (TBDs) are an important disease of animals including ruminants, equine, and dromedaries, they are responsible for significant economic losses to the livestock industry in countries where they occur. Piroplasmosis is one of the TBDs which caused by Theileria (T) spp. or Babesia (B) spp. or both which transmitted by ticks of genera Dermacentor, Hyalomma, and Rhipicephalus. The objective of this study is to use sensitive, fast and specific molecular tools, such as multiplex (m) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for simultaneous detection of T. equi and B. caballi in equine and examined the presence of T. haneyi infections in Egypt using uiplex (u) PCR. In addition to molecular detection and genetic characterization of piroplasma spp. infecting in camel (Camelus dromedarius) using conventional (c) PCR, mPCR, uPCR and nested (n) PCR followed by sequencing. A total of 155 equine blood samples (79 horse and 76 donkey) and 531 camel blood samples have been collected from different geographical governorates in Egypt. In equine, the microscopical examination result revealed that Theileria spp. were detected in 5 (6.3%) horses and 7 (9.2%) donkeys. The mPCR method revealed the presence of T. equi in 16 (20.3%) horses and 10 (13.1%) donkeys and the presence of B. caballi in one (1.2%) horse. B. caballi was