A study on prevalence and identification of Ovine Theileria and Babesia infection in Zabol using PCR method

Infection with Babesia and Theileria Causes high mortality and economical losses in livestock and has a relatively high prevalence in Iran. In Zabol, animals are susceptible to this disease because of presence of vector ticks, weather conditions and smuggle animal across the border and they cause great damages to the economy and production. However, few studies have been done for differentiation of Theileria and Babesia in sheep in this area. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Babesiosis and Theileriosis in sheep in Zabol. A number of 80 animals were randomly selected and their blood samples were examined. The presence of Theileria and Babesia parasites in each sample was determined with PCR and microscopic examination. Of 80 blood samples obtained from sheep, 8 cases (10 %) were positive by microscopic examination where 6 samples were infected with Theileria and 2 samples with Babesia. The result of PCR method determined the prevalence of 66.25 % (53 samples) and 3.75 % (3 samples) for Theileria and Babesia, respectively. The correlation between these two methods (PCR and microscopic examination) was determined with Kappa statistical test. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that Babesiosis has a low prevalence among the sheep of Zabol. This is the first report in which ovine Babesiosis has been studied in this region using molecular identification techniques.