Molecular detection of Anaplasma in apparently healthy Cholistan breed of cattle from the Bahawalpur district, Pakistan

The present study was designed to report the prevalence of Anaplasma sp. in blood samples of Cholistan breed of cattle from Bahawalpur District and to determine the risk factors associated with the prevalence of this parasite. A total of 148 blood samples were randomly collected from apparently healthy cattle. On the sampling sites, data on the characteristics of the animals (species, gender, age) were collected through questionnaires. 47 blood samples (31.8% of total) produced the 577 base pairs DNA fragment specific for 16S rRNA gene of Anaplasma sp. by PCR amplification. Out of 47 Anaplasma sp. positive PCR products, 9 were found to be Anaplasma marginale by restriction with BssNa1 and 9 were confirmed to be Anaplasma phagocytophilum (A. phagocytophilum) as they amplified 550 bp fragment from the amplified MSP 2 gene of this species. Risk factor analysis indicated that the presence of parasite was not limited to a particular sex or age group of the infected animals. Comparison of hematological profile revealed that Anaplasma sp. positive cattle had significantly reduced levels of mean corpuscular volume (P= 0.02) and eosinophils (P= 0.02) than in parasite negative animals. While studied serum biochemical profile remain unaffected when compared between the two groups.