Serological and molecular detection of arthropod-borne agents in ruminants from Brazil, Moçambique, República Federativa da Somália and República da Gâmbia

• Grant number: 21/12198-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Rosangela Zacarias Machado
• Grantee: Rosangela Zacarias Machado
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ahmed Abdulkadir Hassan ; Alpha Kargbo ; Marcos Rogério André ; Rafael Felipe da Costa Vieira ; Thallitha Samih Wischral Jayme Vieira

Abstract

Ruminants have great ecological, agricultural and economic importance. The high occurrence of tick-borne diseases in ruminants has hampered livestock development in Brazil, Mozambique, the Federative Republic of Somalia and the Republic of The Gambia. Considering that cattle, goats, sheep and buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) may live and graze together, pathogens from goats, sheep and buffaloes can threaten the health of the cattle and vice-versa. African wild buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), in turn, play an important role as reservoirs or carriers of a large number of pathogens transmitted by arthropods. Keeping in mind the importance of livestock in Brazil and African countries, the study on the occurrence and genetic diversity of agents transmitted by arthropod vectors is of great importance so that control and prophylaxis measures can be drawn up, in order to reduce losses lost in livestock farming developing countries. The present work aims to determine the occurrence and genetic diversity of Anaplasma marginale, Babesia spp., Bartonella spp., Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichia spp., Mycoplasma spp. and Theileria spp. in 84 Asian buffaloes and 220 associated ectoparasites sampled in Brazil, 219 cattle and 59 wild buffaloes sampled in Mozambique, 231 cattle, 196 goats, 50 sheep, 1,651 cattle ticks and 46 ticks collected from small ruminants in the Federative Republic of Somalia, as well as 90 ticks collected from cattle in the Republic of The Gambia. They will be tested using conventional PCR (cPCR) and real-time PCR (qPCR) assays for A. marginale (msp1-beta and msp1 alpha), B. bovis (sbp-2, msa-1, msa-2b and msa -2c), B. bigemina (hip), C. burnetii (IS1111, Cox-2, Cox-5 and Cox-18), hemoplasms (16S rRNA, 23S rRNA and RNAse P), Bartonella spp. (nuoG, gltA, rpoB, ftsZ, groEL and ITS), E. ruminantium (pCS20 and map1), E. minasensis (dsb) and Theileria spp. (18S rRNA and p104). Amplicons will be sequencing by the Sanger method. The sequences will be submitted to phylogenetic analysis. This study will contribute to the understanding of the prevalence and genetic diversity of vector-borne agents in ruminants in Brazil and African countries. (AU)