ABSTRACT
The objectives of this work were to determine the prevalence of Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, and Anaplasma marginale detecting antibodies in cattle raised in the semi-arid region of the state of Bahia, Brazil, through indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and to compare the performances of indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with crude (I-ELISA-CrAnaAg) and recombinant major surface protein-5 (I-ELISA-MSP-5Ag), as antigens to detect antibodies against A. marginale. An stable enzootic area was found in Senhor do Bonfim and Euclides da Cunha for B. bovis that showed 86 and 95.5 percent of prevalence, respectively, and for B. bigemina with 90.8 and 91.3 percent. On the other hand, Uauá and Juazeiro, were characterized as enzootically unstable areas, since prevalences were: B. bovis - 63.7 and 56.4 percent and B. bigemina - 53 and 54.8 percent, respectively. The prevalence of A. marginale in the four municipalities was above 97 percent with I-ELISA-CrAnaAg and 94.8 percent with I-ELISA-MSP-5Ag which is an indication of stable enzootic condition for the rickettsia. The I-ELISA-CrAnaAg and I-ELISA-MSP-5Ag showed a highly significant association (r = 0.977), which means that both ELISA tests are suitable for epidemiological studies of A. marginale.