Molecular detection and genetic characterisation of pathogenic Theileria, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species among apparently healthy sheep in central and western Kenya

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Molecular detection and genetic characterisation of pathogenic Theileria, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species among apparently healthy sheep in central and western Kenya
 
Creator Ringo, Aaron E. Aboge, Gabriel O. Adjou Moumouni, Paul F. Hun Lee, Seung Jirapattharasate, Charoonluk Liu, Mingming Gao, Yang Guo, Huanping Zheng, Weiqing Efstratiou, Artemis Galon, Eloiza M. Li, Jixu Thekisoe, Oriel Inoue, Noboru Suzuki, Hiroshi Xuan, Xuenan
 
Subject Molecular epidemiology sheep; PCR; Kenya; tick-borne pathogens; phylogenetic analysis
Description Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) caused by Theileria, Babesia, Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are common in tropical and subtropical regions. In this study, we investigated the presence and genetic diversity of Theileria spp., Anaplasma ovis, B. ovis, E. ruminantium and Anaplasma spp. in sheep from the Machakos and Homa Bay counties of Kenya. In order to improve the diagnosis and control of ovine TBDs, a total of 76 blood samples from apparently healthy sheep were screened using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The assays were conducted using primers based on Theileria spp. 18S rRNA, Anaplasma ovis Major surface protein-4 (AoMSP4), B. ovis 18S rRNA, E. ruminantium pCS20 and Anaplasma spp. 16S rRNA. The overall infection rates for Theileria spp., A. ovis, E. ruminantium and Anaplasma spp. were 39/76 (51.3%), 26/76 (34.2%), 6/76 (7.9%) and 31/76 (40.8%), respectively. The overall co-infection was 47/76 (61.8%). All Theileria spp. positive samples were confirmed to be of Theileria ovis on sequencing. A phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequences of T. ovis revealed that all isolates of this study clustered with T. ovis sequences extracted from the GenBank suggesting this gene is highly conserved. E. ruminantium pCS20 sequences were in the same clade on the phylogenetic tree. However, three AoMSP4 sequences from this study appeared in the same clade, while one sequence formed a separate branch revealing genetic divergence. The 16S rRNA sequencing revealed uncharacterised Anaplasma spp. and A. ovis. The phylogenetic analyses of the uncharacterised Anaplasma spp. revealed that the two sequences from this study appear in an independent clade from other sequences extracted from the GenBank. This study provides important information regarding the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens and their degree of genetic diversity among sheep in Kenya, which is useful for the diagnosis and control of TBDs.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan and grant from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Core-to-Core Program Japan (26304036 and 17F17105).
Date 2019-06-13
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — random collection
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ojvr.v86i1.1630
 
Source Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research; Vol 86, No 1 (2019); 8 pages 2219-0635 0030-2465
 
Language eng
 
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https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1630/1914 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1630/1913 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1630/1915 https://ojvr.org/index.php/ojvr/article/view/1630/1912
 
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Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Aaron E. Ringo, Gabriel O. Aboge, Paul F. Adjou Moumouni, Seung Hun Lee, Charoonluk Jirapattharasate, Mingming Liu, Yang Gao, Huanping Guo, Weiqing Zheng, Artemis Efstratiou, Eloiza M. Galon, Jixu Li, Oriel Thekisoe, Noboru Inoue, Hiroshi Suzuki, Xuenan Xuan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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