Abstract
This study was planned to conduct a cross-sectional prospective survey in cattle and buffalos of districts Khanewal (southern
sandy zone), Faisalabad (central plain zone) and Chakwal (northern arid zone) to determine the epidemiology of bovine
babesiosis. A total of 2176 cattle and buffalos randomly selected from each of the study districts were screened through
conventional microscopy of Giemsa stained blood films. PCR was performed for 207, 201 and 210 collected blood samples
from Khanewal, Faisalabad and Chakwal, respectively. The DNA was amplified using species-specific primers, then
subjected to 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis. Logistic regression and Odds ratio were applied to analyze the data
statistically at 95% confidence interval. Babesiosis was found prevalent in the bovine populations of the study districts with
lower cumulative distribution of 17.23% (1125/6528) through optical microscopy and higher (P<0.05) of 26.86% (166/618)
through PCR. Prevalence was found highest (P<0.05) in district Khanewal (22.75-34.03%) followed in order by districts
Faisalabad (18.47-29.85%) and Chakwal (10.48-16.67%). Animal species (cattle-20.19% vs buffalo-14.28%), buffalo breed
(Kundi-23.25% vs Nili-Ravi-8.31%), cattle breed (exotic, cross bred and Sahiwal – 29.34%, 21.45% and 10.3%,
respectively), sex (female-21.13% vs male-12.68%), age (young-23.17% vs adult-11.9%), animal keeping (tethered-23.48%
vs open-11.10%), housing system (closed, semi-closed and open – 22.10%, 19.25% and 9.24%, respectively), hygienic
system (very poor, poor and good – 21.04%, 19.78% and 7.07%, respectively), floor pattern (uncemented, partially cemented
and cemented – 20.39%, 17.54% and 11.98%, respectively) and season (summer, autumn, spring and winter – 23.41%,
20.47%, 17.77% and 7.29%, respectively) were also found positively associated (P<0.05) with the dissemination of
babesiosis in the bovine population of study districts. The study provided baseline data on the distribution of bovine
babsesiosis in the selected three agro-geoclimatic zones of Punjab, Pakistan which can help in preventive management tools
to reduce the risk of disease in the livestock population of Punjab, Pakistan.
Rao Muhammad Siddique, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Saqib. (2020) ASSOCIATION OF DIFFERENT RISK FACTORS WITH THE PREVALENCE OF BABESIOSIS IN CATTLE AND BUFFALOS, Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Volume 57, Issue 2.
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