ABSTRACT
Goats are key livestock animals and goat raising is an income-generating venture for smallholder farmers, supporting agricultural development in many parts of the world. However, goat production is often limited by various factors, such as tick-borne diseases. Goat piroplasmosis is a disease caused by apicomplexan parasites Babesia spp. and Theileria spp., while anaplasmosis is caused by bacterial Anaplasma spp. In the Philippines, the presence of Babesia, Theileria, and Anaplasma has not been reported in goats. In this study, DNA obtained from goats were molecularly screened for Babesia/Theileria and Anaplasma. Of 396, 77.02% (305/396) and 38.64% (153/396) were positive for piroplasma and Anaplasma using PCR assays targeting the 18S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes, respectively. Similarly, Babesia ovis was detected in six samples (1.52%). Representative Babesia/Theileria sequences shared 89.97-97.74% identity with each other and were most closely related to T. orientalis, T. annulata, and Theileria spp. Meanwhile, Anaplasma 16SrRNA sequences were related to A. odocoilei, A. platys, and A. phagocytophilum. This is the first molecular identification of B. ovis, Theileria spp., and Anaplasma spp. in goats from the Philippines.
ABSTRACT
Tick-borne diseases (TBD) cause enormous losses for farmers. Backyard raising comprises majority of the livestock population in the Philippines, but TBD information in backyard livestock is scarce. In this study, 48 cattle and 114 water buffalo samples from Quezon province, Philippines were molecularly screened for tick-borne pathogens. Anaplasma marginale (16.67%) and hemoplasma (20.99%) were detected in the samples. A. marginale infection (P=0.0001) was significantly higher in cattle, while hemoplasma infection (P=0.011) was significantly higher in water buffaloes. A. marginale isolates from this study were highly similar to previous isolates from the Philippines while Mycoplasma wenyonii and Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos were the identified hemoplasma species. Our findings reveal additional information on the TBD situation of Philippine backyard livestock.
