Prevalence of anaplasmosis in cattle from Chattogram Division of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bovine anaplasmosis is an important haemoparasitic disease of farm animals associated with significant economic loss. The current study was designed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors and molecular characterization of Anaplasma species. A total of 1680 blood (crossbred=455, local=1225) from cattle of selected hilly, coastal and plain areas of Chattogram Division. Bangladesh. The conventional microscopic examination using the Giemsa staining technique was considered to examine the samples. A total of 50 randomly selected blood samples (apparently positive as determined by microscopy) were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to confirm the disease. Partial genome sequencing (based on 16S rRNA gene) and phylogenetic analyses were performed. Results demonstrated that a total of 8.21% of cattle (n=1680) were positive for Anaplama marginale infection. The prevalence of anaplasmosis in the hilly area was 9.33% followed by coastal area (9.00%) and plain area (5.83%). The prevalence of Anaplasma spp. was higher (P>0.05) in crossbred compared to indigenous cattle. The infection was significantly higher (P<0.05) in winter (11.09%) followed by rainy (7.13%) and summer (6.43%) season. Animals aged between 18-30 months were found to be more infected to anaplasmosis. The prevalence of anaplasma infection was higher in female animals compared to males. Amplification of 16S rRNA gene showed 80% (40 out of 50 samples) of the samples were found positive for Anaplama marginale infections. Phylogenetic studies revealed that the isolate from this present study was closely related to the isolates of Argentina, Australia and China.