Prevalence of Anaplasma and Babesia transmitted by ticks to cattle in Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica

Emily L Shebish, Purdue University

Abstract

A study was conducted in 2008 in the Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica to determine the prevalence of Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bovis and B. bigemina in cattle. Blood samples were taken from 449 cattle, collected during 10-18 March at 30 farms in Espiritu Santu, Costa Rica. We used cELISA to determine presence of antibodies to A. marginale, B. bovis, B. bigemina, and real-time PCR to determine current infection levels. Based on cELISA results, 86.4% of the cattle sampled were positive for Anaplasma antibodies while real-time PCR showed a prevalence of 52.3%. For Babesia spp., prevalence shown by cELISA was found to be 30.1%. Prevalences for B. bovis and B. bigemina were determined by real-time PCR to be 1.34% and 0.445%, respectively. Real-time PCR results showed that 235 cattle were actively infected with A. marginale, 2 with B. bovis, and 6 with B. bigemina. Of the 4424 ticks collected from cattle, 290 were Amblyomma cajennense and 4134 were Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Oseto, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Entomology|Parasitology

COinS