TITLE:
Molecular Detection of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia Infection in Ticks in Borderline of Iran-Afghanistan
AUTHORS:
Ahmad Jafarbekloo, Hasan Bakhshi, Faezeh Faghihi, Zakkyeh Telmadarraiy, Atefeh Khazeni, Mohammad Ali Oshaghi, Maryam Roya Ramzgouyan, Mohammad Mehdi Sedaghat
KEYWORDS:
Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Tick, Iran
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering,
Vol.7 No.11,
September
18,
2014
ABSTRACT: Anaplasmosis, a
disease caused by various species of Anaplasma, poses important economic
constraints to animal breeders. Ehrlichiosis is a worldwide zoonosis illness
and mostly occurs in tropical and subtropical regions that are close to the
vector’s distribution. Tick-borne pathogens lead to over 100,000 cases of
illness in the world each year. Besides the costs of the additional veterinary
care, anaplasmosis causes abortion in animals, reduction of milk production,
body weight, and frequently leads to death. In this study, we investigated on
infection of ticks to Anaplasma and Ehrlichia pathogens in Zabol
and Zahak County in Sistan and Baluchestan Province where is bordered with
Afghanistan. Totally from June 2013 to May 2014, 369 ticks were caught from
goats, cows and sheep. Molecular studies on 53 of these samples which
represented all specimens, showed that Ehrlichia’s DNA and Anaplasma’s DNA was found in 14 (26.4%)
out of the 53 selected specimens. The results showed the infection of Rhipicephalus
sanguineus and Hyalomma anatolicum with Anaplasma ovis. Also
we saw infection of H. anatolicum and H. asiaticum ticks to Ehrlichia spp. This
study has been intended to do a comprehensive survey of Ehrlichia and Anaplasma distribution in ticks caught from east of Iran; it was designed to investigate
the presence of Anaplasma spp.
and Ehrlichia spp. in
Zabol and Zahak Counties, Iran. These results show that these pathogens should
be controlled in such regions.