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Epidemiological study on tropical theileriosis (Theileria annulata infection)
in the Egyptian Oases with special reference to the molecular
characterization of Theileria spp

Research Authors
Amira AL-Hosarya,Laila Ahmeda,Jabbar Ahmedb, Ard Nijhofb, Peter-Henning Clausenb
Research Abstract

Theileria annulata infection is a tick-borne disease known as Egyptian fever since 1947. It is a destructive obstacle
for the livestock production in the Egyptian Oases (EL-Wady EL-Geded Province). The present study was conducted
on 1068 cattle, ranged from below one year to more than eight years old; belonged to different farms and
villages in EL-Wady EL-Geded Province. The infection was confirmed by blood smears, Tams-1 target based
polymerase chain reaction (Tams-1 PCR), 18Ss rRNA polymerase chain reaction and semi nested-polymerase
chain reaction (nPCR) followed by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analyses, in addition to tick identification.
Molecular techniques confirmed the infection in 63.6% (679/1068) of the examined animals while Giemsastained
blood smears confirmed it in 36.8% (393/1062). Male and female animals showed molecular confirmed
infection rates of 64.5 and 62.7%, respectively. Animals less than one year old were more infected (83.33%,
400/480) followed by animals less than three years (57.31%, 149/260) and animals less than five years
(42.45%, 90/212), respectively. On the other hand, animal of five years old or above were less infected and the
infection rate in this group was estimated to be 34.48% (40/116). Two tick species were identified during the
present study: Hyalomma anatolicum and Rhipicephalus annulatus. Theileria annulata was the only Theileria species
found in the Egyptian oases in respect to phylogenetic analysis of the obtained sequences.

Research Department
Research Journal
Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
Research Publisher
NULL
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
NULL
Research Website
NULL
Research Year
2018
Research Pages
NULL