AUTHOR=Naeem Muhammad , Amaro-Estrada Itzel , Taqadus Asia , Swelum Ayman A. , Alqhtani Abdulmohsen H. , Asif Muhammad , Sajid Muhammad , Khan Asmat Ullah , Tariq Aliza , Anjum Summaya , Khan Adil , Iqbal Furhan 

TITLE=Molecular prevalence and associated risk factors of Anaplasma ovis in Pakistani sheep

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1096418

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2023.1096418

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Majority of Pakistani population lives in rural areas and raising animals, especially the small ruminants, is their primary source of income. <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> is known to infect small ruminants globally and causing significant economic losses to livestock owners, however prevalence of <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> has been least investigated from Pakistan despite having a huge sheep population.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>The present study was conducted from June 2021 till December 2021 to report the PCR based prevalence of <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> in the blood samples of sheep (<italic>n</italic> = 239) that were collected from District Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Out of 239 samples, 30 (12.5%) amplified a 347 bp fragment specific for the <italic>msp4</italic> gene of <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic>. Represented partial <italic>msp4</italic> gene sequences were confirmed by Sanger sequencing and deposited to GenBank (<ext-link ext-link-type="DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank" xlink:href="OP620757" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">OP620757</ext-link>-<ext-link ext-link-type="DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank" xlink:href="59" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">59</ext-link>). None of the studied epidemiological factors (age, sex, breed, size of herd, dogs with herd, and composition of herd) showed an association (<italic>P</italic> &gt; 0.05) with the <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> infection in enrolled sheep. Analysis of the amplified partial <italic>mSP4</italic> sequence of <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> revealed that this gene is highly conserved as all three sequences were identical and phylogenetically resembled with the <italic>msp4</italic> sequences amplified from small ruminants in China, Kenya, and Germany, Turkey, Portugal, Tunisia and India. In conclusion, for the first time, we are reporting a moderate prevalence of <italic>Anaplasma ovis</italic> prevalence in Pakistani sheep and this data will help in developing the integrated control policies against this newly reported tick-borne disease that is infecting our sheep breeds.</p></sec>