Molecular Investigation of Ovine and Caprine Anaplasmosis in
South-eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey
Ceylan Ceylan1* and Özlem Derinbay Ekici1
1Selcuk
University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary
Parasitology, Konya, Turkey
*Corresponding author:
ceylanilhan@selcuk.edu.tr
Abstract
Ovine and caprine anaplasmosis is an endemic tick-borne disease in Europe, the
Middle East and some African and Asian countries, including Turkey. This study
was conducted to determine the prevalence of Anaplasma ovis and
Anaplasma phagocytophilum in sheep and goats in the Southeastern Anatolia
region of Turkey. For each animal group, 384 individuals were included in the
study. Microscopy and Rt-PCR were used to determine the prevalence of
anaplasmosis in sheep and goats. Microscopic examination revealed 21.88% (n:84)
and 39.58% (n:152) Anaplasma sp. positivity in sheep and goats,
respectively. The study revealed that the molecular prevalence values were
higher than the microscopic prevalence values for each
microorganism. The molecular prevalence of A.
ovis was 89.32% (n:343) in sheep and 78.91% (n:303) in goats and the
difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). On the other hand, A.
phagocytophilum was detected at 42.97% (n:165) in sheep and 15.89% (n:61)
in goats. This is the first study in Turkey in which the Rt-PCR method was used
for the detection of Anaplasma species in small ruminants. This study
demonstrated that Rt-PCR provides more accurate and specific results than
microscopic examination. The present study is expected to contribute to
determining the prevalence of Anaplasma species, one of the tick-borne
pathogens, in Turkey and provide data on future control strategies for small
ruminant anaplasmosis.
To Cite This Article:
Ceylan C and Ekici ÖD, 2022. Molecular
investigation of ovine and caprine anaplasmosis in south-eastern anatolia region
of turkey. Pak Vet J.
http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2022.070