Background

Tick-borne diseases mainly, theileriosis, babesiosis and anaplasmosis cause significant economic losses in livestock globally, including Turkey. The tick-borne pathogens of small ruminants in Turkey have been studied widely but information on molecular characterization and disease occurrence is still limited.

Methods

In this study, both microscopy and molecular detection and characterization for Theileria spp. Babesia ovis, Anaplasma ovis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum was conducted. A total of 133 blood samples of tick-infested small ruminants (105 sheep and 28 goats) were collected from Turkey: half of the animals had clinical signs of tick-borne disease infections.

Results

Using PCR assays and microscopy, 90.2% and 45.1% of the samples were positive for at least one pathogen, respectively. Overall, the infection rates of A. phagocytophilum, B. ovis, A. ovis, Theileria spp. were 66.7%, 62.4%, 46.6% and 7.0%, respectively. Fifty-nine of the 133 (44.4%) samples were co-infected with two or more pathogens. Sex, season and B. ovis positivity were significant risk factors for occurrence of clinical disease. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis based on B. ovis 18S small subunit rRNA, A. ovis major surface protein 4, Theileria spp. 18S rRNA and A. phagocytophilum 16S rRNA genes showed that the isolates in this study clustered together in well-supported clades with those previously collected from Turkey and other countries.

Conclusions

The study shows B. ovis as the most significant pathogen associated with clinical and fatal cases in small ruminants from Turkey. Female sex and summer season are associated with increased risk of the disease. This study shows high infection rates with the pathogens among small ruminants including A. phagocytophilum which has veterinary and public health importance.

中文翻译：

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土耳其绵羊和山羊Go虱病的分子检测和危险因素评估。

背景

壁虱传播的疾病主要是麻疯病，巴贝虫病和无虫病，这对包括土耳其在内的全球牲畜造成重大经济损失。土耳其小反刍动物的tick传播病原体已得到广泛研究，但有关分子特征和疾病发生的信息仍然有限。

方法

在这项研究中，Theileria spp的显微镜和分子检测与表征。进行了巴贝斯虫卵，羊膜无形体和吞噬细胞无形体。从土耳其收集了总共133个受of感染的小反刍动物的血液样本（105只绵羊和28只山羊）：一半的动物具有tick传播疾病感染的临床症状。

结果

使用PCR测定法和显微镜检查，分别有90.2％和45.1％的样品对至少一种病原体呈阳性。总体而言，嗜A.phagocytophilum，B。ovis，A。ovis，Theileria spp的感染率。分别为66.7％，62.4％，46.6％和7.0％。133个样本中有59个（44.4％）被两种或多种病原体共感染。性别，季节和牛肝菌阳性是发生临床疾病的重要危险因素。基于B. ovis 18S小亚基rRNA，A。ovis主要表面蛋白4，Theileria spp的序列和系统发育分析。18S rRNA和嗜A.phagocytophilum 16S rRNA基因显示，该研究中的分离株与先前从土耳其和其他国家收集的分离株聚集在良好支持的进化枝中。

结论

研究表明，在来自土耳其的小反刍动物中，牛肝杆菌是与临床和致命病例相关的最重要病原体。女性和夏季与患病风险增加有关。这项研究表明，小反刍动物中的病原体感染率很高，其中包括嗜血曲霉，对兽医和公共卫生具有重要意义。